Someone to Watch Over Me
by Mystewitch
Summary: It's been four years since that night we walked off into what I thought was a happy ending.  Two years since I last saw him. A few urgent words, a few threats and there I was, right back where I started, trying to save Nick's life before it was too late.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Those of you who have followed me here from my vampire fanfics, I hope you give this one a shot! I fell in love with the movie Push, especially Chris Evans, and used him as a bit of a model for my new vampire series. I love the universe the movie built with people being born with various psychic powers. I promise, I will have a Vampire Diaries story coming soon now that I've finished writing my latest book, but this story was just dying to come out first!**

**This fic takes place 4 years after the end of the movie, which makes Cassie around 17 and Nick around 25ish. **

**For those of you unfamiliar with the world of Push, Cassie is a Watcher, which gives her the ability to see the future. Nick is a Mover, which gives him telekinetic powers, and Kira is a Pusher, which gives her the ability to control anyone's mind simply by catching their eye. Division is a government funded group that uses people that have these and other abilities, with no regard for their freedom or lives.**

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

When I was younger I used to believe in happily ever after. Then again, I also believed in the Easter Bunny, Santa and promises.

I used to think once we got ahold of the serum, that we'd finally have Division by the balls. With that magic bullet we'd bring them down, I'd get my mom back, and we'd ride off into the sunset. Nick would, of course, eventually get tired of Little Miss Trouble and kick her to the curb, right around the time I graduated from a training bra and he would suddenly see me in a new light. We'd be good for each other, take care of each other, and with Division gone, we might stand a good chance at a normal life together.

Yeah... that never happened.

It's been four years since that night atop the tower, when we walked off into what I thought was a happy ending. Two years since I last saw him. Two months since I last saw my mother. Two weeks since I last saw _her_, the bitch who was responsible for it all. A few urgent words, a few threats and there I was, right back where I started, trying to save Nick's life before it was too late.

You could have knocked me over with a feather when Nick's face popped into my mind's eye. It had been a long time since I'd stopped trying to watch him; it was too painful to see him with her right after we'd parted ways. They used the words "move on", it sounded better than abandon, but it amounted to the same thing. It wasn't like they tossed a ball out the car door and left me by the side of the road as I ran off after it, they'd found a "good home" for me before leaving for parts unknown. Well, good enough to lessen their guilt no doubt.

A nice family, in a nice house, with a nice school, and a nice dog in a nice town, safe from the dangers of Division. I finally had a permanent roof over my head, three square meals a day and people who worried about whether or not I needed to go to the dentist, or had holes in my shoes.

I hated it.

I barely lasted a month before I took off, the white bread life was just too hard to assimilate and it didn't stop the visions of what was to come; visions that branded me a freak in suburbia. After that I just drifted from big city to big city, it was easier that way. No one pays attention to a teen girl in a teeming metropolis, and I was mostly left alone to make my way, with only occasional run-ins with Division. I like to think they did it just to fuck with me every now and again, let me know they could find me whenever they wanted me.

I knew I'd have to see him again when I got the vision of Nick, even before Kira showed up with her thugs. He looked almost exactly the same, scruffy brown hair, worn t-shirt and jeans under a beat up leather jacket, just as I remembered him, except for a hardness around his eyes that wasn't there before. Apparently a lot had changed in the past two years, but not so much that I still didn't find him irresistibly appealing and I wasn't sure what that meant, if anything. I was a far cry from the skinny little girl who'd found him in Hong Kong four years ago, but a girl never forgets her first real crush.

I've changed a bit myself since I first met Nick. I'm taller, but not by much, I read somewhere that too much caffeine stunts your growth. The way I slammed back red bulls, I was surprised I hadn't shrunk with age. I hadn't dyed my hair in a while, I outgrew that phase with no lasting effects, so my hair hung in greasy blonde locks down my back - not exactly the look I'd been hoping for the first time I saw him again, but beggars can't be choosers, I was just happy to find him alive in time.

But I forgot, you don't want a walk down memory lane, you want to hear about the crisis du jour. Well, set 'em up then, it's a long, bumpy ride.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

Morning. Well, not morning in the strictest sense of the word. But morning for Nick those days didn't ever start north of the noon hour. It was an occupational hazard staying up too late, he rationalized to himself, but mostly he just didn't dwell on it as he lighted the first cigarette of the day.

The knock at the door had him frozen with the match halfway between the pack and the cigarette. It was probably nothing. Not that he got many visitors at The Hitching Post, a roadside motel he'd been holed up in for the past few months. The knock came again, and Nick let go of the match a fraction of a second too late, hissing over the sting of heat as it singed his fingers. "Alright, I'm coming…" he called out, pulling on a pair of jeans without looking too closely at how clean they were. "Yeah?" he blinked at the bright sunlight, only partially obscured by the blonde standing in his doorway. He didn't recognize her, but a smile instantly tugged at the corner of his mouth, more of an instinct than anything else when confronted with a pretty girl. "Can I help you?"

"Ugh, not looking like that you can't," she snorted, and he looked down at the stained wife beater he wore. Okay, so maybe he could use a shower and a shave, but he hadn't had any complaints in the lady department. The girl seemed largely unimpressed though, pushing past him into the motel room. "So, this is where you're living now, huh?" she commented, studying his room with more interest than she looked at him, in a way that pricked at his nerves.

"Come on in, why don't you?" he muttered, shutting the door behind him. "Look, not that I don't mind the company, but do I know you?" He'd had too much to drink the night before, had he picked her up in a bar somewhere? She didn't look familiar, but they did get their share of traffic from the highway that went through the north end of town. She wore a faded green hoodie paired with a short, denim skirt and scuffed brown cowboy boots that didn't quite go with the pierced eyebrow or the multiple silver hoops set in her ears or the sooty black eyeliner that framed her pale, blue eyes. Overall she was still a hottie, but something about her felt… off.

"Typical," she sighed, settling down in the only easy chair, propping her feet up on an empty milk crate.

Something about the way she said it tugged at his memory and then he placed her, his jaw dropping at the realization. "Ho…ly…shit! Cassie?" It seemed incredible that she would actually be there, acting like it had been a week since he'd seen her instead of… how long had it been? Nick stared at her, struck dumb, which wasn't easy to do. Cass just sat there, waiting for him to get over it, watching him with those cool blue eyes that saw too much. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. What the hell are you doing out here in the middle of Pisspot Texas, Nick?"

"Watch your language," slipped out automatically and it struck him as funny how quickly the instinct surfaced. A roll of the eyes was given and he realized he couldn't exactly fault a girl her age for marginally bad language. How old was she again? He didn't remember those curves the last time he'd seen her. She was staring at him and belatedly he remembered she'd asked him a question, and he waved it off. "I got tired of dodging legbreakers and decided to set out for the open skies. What, you don't like it out here?"

"Are you kidding me? Who can relax in all the open spaces and clean air? I can't sleep unless I have my earbuds in, the silence is deafening," she shuddered and he knew what she meant. Usually he drank until he passed out, so it wasn't a problem, but on the odd days he was too strapped for cash to buy booze, sleep was hard to come by. "The real question is, do _you_ like it out here?" her face scrunched up with skepticism and he saw the little girl he'd known peeping out of her expression. It was enough to make him smile.

"I do, I like the quiet. It's a welcome change, don't you think?"

"I think too much hayseed and beer has seeped into your brain to think clearly."

"Okay then, how about you tell me what you're doing here? Do your parents know you came out here to visit me?" He tried to inject a sterner note into his voice to counteract the fact that she'd knocked him for a loop. Cassie in his motel room… he couldn't get over it.

Another roll of the eyes was given. "Those dweebs weren't my parents and you know it," she scoffed. "I left them ages ago."

"You left them…" That wasn't the way it was supposed to happen. They'd left her with a good family, a chance for a real life. Twice in the space of ten minutes she'd managed to shock him; he was almost afraid to ask her anything else.

"Don't pretend you care," her eyes narrowed bitterly and he felt his heart twist with guilt for leaving her in the first place.

"I do care…"

"Save it, it's ancient history," she waved him off, and his guilty words fell silent at the look on her face. "I didn't come here to relive our glory days. I came to save your sorry ass… again."

"Does my ass need saving?" his brows climbed skyward. There had been no sign of Division for the past year, and even then at last contact, it was just a phone call from Kira telling him in no uncertain terms to stop trying to find her. As far as he knew, Division didn't give a shit about him anymore. Nick watched as she dug out a sketchbook from her voluminous bag. Gone was the ratty little black book, this one was a regular artist's book, spiral bound, about the size of a diary.

Cassie flipped it open the right page and handed it over. "Here's you, getting gunned down in front of a Tasty Freeze. Does any of that look familiar?"

Nick accepted the book, a low whistle leaving his lips at the scene depicted. No longer the childish scrawl in rainbow colors, she'd obviously taken the time to perfect her talent, the sketch was well rendered in regular pencil, the shading giving it depth and amazing detail. Was this really the same girl who had drawn him with X's over his eyes like a cartoon? "I recognize the place alright, but I don't recognize these two guys, who are they?"

"I was sorta hoping you could tell me that, I haven't exactly been keeping tabs on your life this whole time."

He wasn't quite sure why, but Nick couldn't help but feel a little disappointed to hear that. Not that he expected her to think about him often, they'd all moved on. Still, he hadn't though she would completely forget about him. "No, I've never seen them before, what do they want with me?"

"Based on the big pool of blood surrounding your head, I'm thinking your death," she deadpanned. "See the blood coming out of your ears? Bleeders."

"Is that blood? It's hard to tell when everything's one color," he tilted the page a little and she ripped it from his hands.

"Yeah well, one color was all I had to work with, so shut it," she frowned, fingers tracing over her artwork.

"No, it's good, way better than your drawings before, I'm sorry," he backpedaled, leaning over her shoulder to get another look, only then noticing the dark smudges on her fingers, a sign that she spent a lot of her time sketching with graphite. "What's this?" he tapped the page in the corner where a small object lay partially obscured in the dirt.

"It's a syringe. The syringe. Do you still have it?" she looked up at him and Nick was glad he didn't have to see that light of hope fade from her eyes.

"Not with me, but it's safe."

"_She_ doesn't know where it's hidden, does she?"

It wasn't lost on him that Cassie didn't use Kira's name, it wasn't a word that had left his lips often in the past year either, though for different reasons. "No, she doesn't know where it is. But there is a Tasty Freeze near where it's hidden," he frowned, chewing on the inside of his bottom lip as he thought that over. Would he put himself in more or less danger if he went to retrieve the syringe now? What would he do with it anyway? It wasn't like it had done them any good in their efforts to retrieve Cassie's mother. Since Division had used Kira's blood to distill a new version of the serum, they'd stopped coming after it.

"Well shit, that complicates things," Cassie muttered sourly, and Nick bit back the admonition against language that sprang to his tongue. "Alright, forget I came here then," she rose from her chair.

"You're leaving?" he blinked. "Just like that?"

"Just like that. I warned you to stay away from the syringe and avoid any Tasty Freeze like the plague, my job is done here. The rest is up to you. Have a nice life, Nick." Looping the bag over her shoulder, she headed for the door and Nick scrambled after her.

"But you just got here…" Longer legs gave him the advantage as he beat her to the door, leaning against it to block her way.

Cassie stopped, fixing him with a flat, unfriendly stare. "Don't pretend you actually want me here, I know all too well how you want me out of your life."

"Don't say that, it's not true."

"Isn't it? I didn't see you tracking me down to visit for old times sake, did I?" Nevermind that she wouldn't have been there anyway, Nick had already admitted that he'd had no idea she wasn't with her foster family and a flush of guilt stole up the side of his neck.

"You're the Watcher, not me. Why didn't you ever contact me?"

"Oh please," another eyeroll was given. "Three's a crowd, you made that perfectly clear."

Only he'd been alone for over a year, sinking deeper and deeper into solitude. "I guess I deserve that." Nick walked away from the door, giving her the opportunity to leave if she wanted to. "For the record, I thought I was doing you a favor, giving you a shot at a normal life."

Cassie's head canted to one side, looking at him like he'd just said the stupidest thing she'd ever heard. "I'll never have a normal life, Nick. I'm not normal. Neither one of us is."

She was right, of course. And he couldn't help but shake his head. "I'm sorry, Cass. I guess I fucked up," he sighed, sinking down on the side of the bed. He'd pushed her out of his life, all because Kira wanted a little bit of normalcy for all of them. He'd listened because it sounded good in theory, but he had to admit, he'd purposely glossed over the doubts he'd had at the time in order to make her happy. He would have done it and more. In the months that followed, he had to wonder, had she Pushed him to get him to do what she wanted? Or was he just that much of a selfish dick to want some alone time with Kira?

When he looked up again, Cassie was still watching him, an inscrutable look on her face. Instead of leaving, she let the bag slip off her shoulder, crossing the room to stand before him. "You always were kinda stupid," she patted his cheek, a half smile tilting her lips before she returned to the chair to wrestle with the boots.

"So, you're staying then?" She shot him a look that rather expressively said 'duh', but said nothing as she continued to pull at the boot. "If you're going to stick around for a while, maybe you should think about blending in a little then?" Her look might pass in the city, but she was sure to turn a few heads in the small Texas town.

"What? I am blending in, I got the boots, don't I?"

Given the excuse to look, he couldn't help but notice shapely legs encased in ratty, old, brown cowgirl boots below the narrow denim skirt. With an effort he pulled his eyes away, mentally smacking himself upside the head for looking at her like… a girl. "You look… ah…" Nick swallowed, unsure how to complete that sentence without looking like an ass or insulting her. Or both.

"Hey, you'd look like this too if you just spent the last four days in the back of a bus with the unwashed masses of the South." Cassie tucked a strand of lank hair behind her ear self consciously. "You still haven't told me how you ended up down here. How can you stand this place?" she looked around the motel room with obvious distaste.

"It's not so bad…" he shrugged, brows coming together as he realized just how dingy the place was. Not quite as old and decrepit as his place in Hong Kong, but somehow worse, because no matter how run down that building had been, he'd at least made the effort to pick up after himself back then. His current abode boasted fast food wrappers that were more likely to get up and walk themselves out of the motel room than see the inside of a Hefty bag.

"Don't sweat it, Nick, I've stayed in worse." The boot came free and its mate soon joined it on the threadbare carpet. "I'm gonna hit your shower, maybe you could get us something to eat and then we'll talk, okay?"

"Uh… yeah…" Somehow she had him right where she wanted him, and Nick could only nod as she grabbed her bag and disappeared into the bathroom. He stood there staring at the bathroom door for long seconds until he heard the water turn on with a squeak and a groan and he shook himself out of it, slipping out to hit the corner store for a couple of hotdogs and a bottle of scotch. Something told him he was gonna need it to steady his nerves.

**A/N: Okay, let me know what you think! For those of you who saw the movie, I hope I am doing justice to their characters in what I imagine they'd be like, given the set of circumstances I've dealt them. For those of you who follow my writing but haven't seen the movie, I hope you will! Chris Evans is fantastic in Push, and his chemistry with Dakota Fanning is awesome, despite the fact that they aren't the obvious romantic coupling due to her age. **

**As always, Feedback is love.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Thanks to those of you reading this, I know it's a harder sell, it being for a movie that came out a few years ago, but still a story worth telling, I think. **

_When he looked up again, Cassie was still watching him, an inscrutable look on her face. Instead of leaving, she let the bag slip off her shoulder, crossing the room to stand before him. "You always were kinda stupid," she patted his cheek, a half smile tilting her lips before she returned to the chair to wrestle with the boots. _

"_So, you're staying then?" She shot him a look that rather expressively said 'duh', but said nothing as she continued to pull at the boot. "If you're going to stick around for a while, maybe you should think about blending in a little then?" Her look might pass in the city, but she was sure to turn a few heads in the small Texas town. _

"_What? I am blending in, I got the boots, don't I?"_

_Given the excuse to look, he couldn't help but notice shapely legs encased in ratty, old, brown cowgirl boots below the narrow denim skirt. With an effort he pulled his eyes away, mentally smacking himself upside the head for looking at her like… a girl. "You look… ah…" Nick swallowed, unsure how to complete that sentence without looking like an ass or insulting her. Or both. _

"_Hey, you'd look like this too if you just spent the last four days in the back of a bus with the unwashed masses of the South." Cassie tucked a strand of lank hair behind her ear self consciously. "You still haven't told me how you ended up down here. How can you stand this place?" she looked around the motel room with obvious distaste. _

"_It's not so bad…" he shrugged, brows coming together as he realized just how dingy the place was. Not quite as old and decrepit as his place in Hong Kong, but somehow worse, because no matter how run down that building had been, he'd at least made the effort to pick up after himself back then. His current abode boasted fast food wrappers that were more likely to get up and walk themselves out of the motel room than see the inside of a Hefty bag. _

"_Don't sweat it, Nick, I've stayed in worse." The boot came free and its mate soon joined it on the threadbare carpet. "I'm gonna hit your shower, maybe you could get us something to eat and then we'll talk, okay?"_

"_Uh… yeah…" Somehow she had him right where she wanted him, and Nick could only nod as she grabbed her bag and disappeared into the bathroom. He stood there staring at the bathroom door for long seconds until he heard the water turn on with a squeak and a groan and he shook himself out of it, slipping out to hit the corner store for a couple of hotdogs and a bottle of scotch. Something told him he was gonna need it to steady his nerves. _

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

It could have gone better, it could have gone worse. I suppose it was about par with most of the daydreams I'd had about seeing him again over the years. Well, the daydreams that were at all based in reality and didn't involve him catching me up into his arms with a big, kiss. I _knew_ those were bullshit, but they still crept in every now and again.

Undressing lazily, I allowed myself a private smile over the memory of Nick's face when he'd realized it was me in his motel room. Priceless. It was easy to tell he'd never thought to see me again, and that was enough to make the smile fade from my lips and focus on getting into the hot shower.

I admit, I had a brief moment when I realized that it was Nick's shower I was standing in, Nick's soap I lathered myself up with. I allowed that train of thought to progress to it's natural destination, my mind supplying the all important visual of him in the shower, water coursing over his lean, muscular form, slick with soap… for about thirty seconds anyway, before I shook myself out of it. I wasn't fourteen anymore, fantasizing about what I'd only caught glimpses of, or fifteen, dreaming about joining him in the shower. It was just a bathroom, and none too clean at that.

I'd had two years to forget what it was like to see him strip down to his skivvies without a thought that I was in the room, and two years to forget that he'd never looked at me as anything other than a little sister, no matter what fantasies my adolescent brain had spun. Even so, it had been good to see him again, I couldn't deny that.

Was it a little sick that I was glad Nick seemed to want me to stay, even knowing that I'd only bring myself more heartache by sticking around? Maybe, but looking into those green eyes, I kidded myself into hoping he'd care again. Deluding myself into thinking it would be enough this time.

I was still turning those thoughts over in my mind, lazily lathering up my hair when the vision came, the violent, disjointed images striking with enough force to steal the breath from my body and I could do nothing until it passed. Sometimes it helps to draw it, to get the sight out of my head quicker, but times like that, in the shower, I had to ride it out as best I could. Not that I wanted to draw what I saw that time anyway, the vision was disturbing enough to live through one time without preserving it for all eternity. The mishmash of images gave way to the true vision itself, and my stomach turned at the scene that unfolded in my mind's eye.

For the thousandth time, I wondered why I never got visions of people riding Space Mountain at Disneyland or frolicking at the beach. Why did it usually have to be filled with doom and gloom? While it was true, sometimes the visions helped me to avoid the actual doom; they were hard to live through all the same.

How long I stood there, I don't know. But when I heard Nick knock on the door asking if I was alright, I suddenly shivered to find the water was as cold as ice.

Nick wanted peace and tranquility. Well, he was in for a rude awakening.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

The shower was still going when Nick got back to the room. He knew from experience the hot water heater wasn't that great; had something happened to her? Pressing his ear to the door, all he could hear was the running water, no sign of any movement inside other than that.

"Hey, are you okay in there?" Nick knocked tentatively. Long seconds passed, and he started to think maybe he should force the door open when he heard her reply.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a sec."

Letting out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, Nick went back to the small kitchenette to make an effort to straighten up. After filling up two full garbage bags, he left to take them outside, a little surprised to see Cassie sitting at the tiny table, chowing down on one of the hotdogs when he got back. This time she looked more like a regular teen and less like jail bait in a pair of faded jeans, her long hair damply curling around her shoulders. Without the make-up and super short skirt, she looked more like the girl he knew, and he eased as little as he joined her at the table.

They'd shared countless meals like this before, with and without Kira, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. "You okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she replied from around a bite of hotdog. Cassie looked like she hadn't had a real meal in far too long, and he resolved to eat just the one himself and save the rest for her.

"You were in there a long time… I just thought that maybe…"

"It's been a few days since I had the luxury of a real shower, I guess I got carried away," Cassie gave him a smirk and Nick choked on the image that popped into his head. She didn't mean _that_, did she? Tearing his thoughts from anything that had to do with Cass and the shower, he worked on trying to focus his thoughts into something coherent, completely missing the teasing little smile on the corner of her mouth.

"So… ah, two years… where have you been?"

"Sorry, I'm not doing that," she waved away the question with the end of the hotdog before she took another bite and he frowned over the response.

"Not doing what?"

"I'm not doing the walk down memory lane right now, not without some serious alcohol at least, and something tells me you're still stingy with the booze, am I right?" At his blank stare, she nodded. "That's what I thought."

Not quite sure what game she was playing, Nick let it drop. "Okaaaay… so what did you want to talk about then?" She'd been the one to say they had more to discuss when she ordered him out to pick up something to eat.

"I thought we should talk about what you're going to do next. You know, so you can avoid ending up like my vision of you?"

It wasn't lost on him that she said 'you're' not 'we're', and he supposed he couldn't blame her for that. She'd become her own independent person, and somehow survived on her own for the past couple of years. At least, he assumed she was on her own. Did she have someone waiting for her to come back to? His brows knit together as he realized he really didn't know anything about her anymore.

"Hello? Earth to Nick…" she snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Conversation involves two participants. Unless you don't care about ending up face down in a puddle of your own blood outside a Tasty Freeze?" she raised a single brow at him. The pierced one.

Shaking himself out of it, he put the rest of it aside to deal with the problem at hand. "I thought that seemed simple enough, I avoid the Tasty Freeze, and I avoid the bleeders."

"Yeah, if that was the only place they'd be looking for you I'd agree, but we both know that's not how they operate. It's the syringe they're after, killing you is just icing on the cake."

"You sound pretty sure of yourself there," his frown deepened. "You got all of that from a single vision?" From the look on her face, he could tell he'd hit onto something. She always had been terrible at keeping things from him. "What is it? What else do you know?"

Instead of answering him, she changed tacks. "I think you should seriously consider either destroying the serum or giving it back to Division."

"You can't be serious." Nick stared at her as if she'd grown another head. "How can you say that after what we went through to get it?"

"It's not like it did us much good. Or _any_ good, come to think of it. All it did was draw us into Division's bullshit and…"

"You saw her didn't you?" The insight came to him in a sudden burst of clarity. "You saw Kira." Her lack of a response spoke volumes, even if she pretended to eat to fill the silence. "What did you See?" Expecting it to be a vision, he was wholly unprepared for her reply.

"She came to see me a couple of weeks back." The admission was given, and he slumped back in his chair, stunned.

"She came to see you…" It had been so long since he'd last seen Kira, but even now Nick could picture the pout of her lips, the hard look in her eyes when she'd told him it was over. He'd turned the entire city upside down searching for her, only to get that final phone call telling him to forget her and move on. "What did she want?"

Cassie didn't reply right away, she watched the play of emotions on his face, her own expression undefinable. "She basically said I should pull the stick out and start doing my job. Only she said it with bigger words and a lot more hostility."

"Start doing your job?"

"Yeah, you know, Watching? I told you, I stopped watching you a long time ago and it became habit to block you out."

"What else did she say?"

"She said if I didn't come to find you, you'd be dead within a month, easy."

"She's no watcher…" he started to object.

"But she has access to them at Division."

His blood went cold at the reminder that Kira was working with them again. He preferred to think of her as out there on her own. "You don't know for sure she's still with them."

"I recognized the guys that were with her as Division thugs easy enough."

Kira was strong enough not to have to do anything they wanted, not anymore. Unless she wanted to, and Nick had trouble accepting that maybe he'd never really known her as well as he'd thought.

"I'm just telling you what I saw…"

"Sometimes your visions are wrong, you always said so yourself."

"I'm telling you what I saw and heard on my own, Nick. What you choose to believe is between you and your therapist."

Nick digested that for a few seconds, "What else did she say?"

"She said it was time to stop living in the past and embrace the future. If we ever wanted a chance at a future, Division would welcome us, no questions asked, as long as we gave back the serum."

The air whistled through his teeth as he sucked in a breath, and Nick pushed away from the table, not wanting to deal with what that could mean. A chance at a future. Did that mean with Kira? Was that her real message? Why hadn't she come to see him then? Why go to Cassie? Kira didn't even like the girl. Not that he could blame her after the simmering hostility between the two of them that only grew over the years.

"I wouldn't blame you, you know."

Cassie's words shook him out of his reverie. "What?"

"If you took her offer. Division can offer you protection from the other clans, the chance at a real future, like she said. A strong psychic like you… you'd have it made in the shade. And then you could be with her again." A sad little smile curved one side of her mouth as she looked out the window, the food forgotten.

"That's… not gonna happen. Not after everything they took from me. From both of us," he met her eyes squarely, imagining he saw them mist with tears before she shook her head, balling up the garbage from the table.

"Huh, who woulda thought?"

"Who would have thought what?"

"She left you your balls after all." Rising from the table, she washed her hands in the sink. Nick's eyes closed as he shook his head, stifling the smile that rose unbidden to his lips. "Sorry, I forgot I might bruise your virgin ears," she stuck her tongue out at him over her shoulder and he had to laugh, feeling lighter than he had in months. It begged the question…

"So… are you still planning on ditching me now that you're done inhaling hotdogs, or are you gonna stick around for a bit, see what plays out?" It was unnerving to find how much power she held over him in that moment, within the palm of her delicate little hand, and Nick realized he didn't want her to go.

Cassie opened her mouth to reply, but frowned a half second before the knock sounded on the door.

It had been at least six months since he'd brought a gun to answer the door with him, but the instinct returned in a heartbeat and the gun zipped out from under his pillow to land in his hand in the blink of an eye. "Stay out of sight," he waved to her, approaching the door cautiously, but Cassie remained where she stood, her eyes unfocused for a moment before she rose and joined him at the door, laying cool fingers against the hand that held the gun.

"It's okay, it's not them, it's something else."

"Why do I get the feeling it's still not a good thing?"

"Relax, Nick," her fingers tightened around his hand. "Not everything is about you or me," she said softly and he wished he could erase the pain he saw in those eyes. "Now open the door."

With a nod, Nick shoved the gun in the back of his pants and pulled the shirt over it. Good thing too, because the open door revealed Deputy Perry standing on the other side. "Afternoon Deputy, something I can help you with?"

The lawman's eyes flicked to Cassie's face who hadn't moved away from Nick's side, deciding to go ahead with what he'd been about to say when no introduction was forthcoming. "Afternoon, Nick. We've got us a missing child alert, and I thought maybe you might like to join the search party seeing as how you have searchlights on your truck."

"Oh, right. Yeah, of course. Who's gone missing?" Nick immediately became concerned as soon as he realized it wasn't anything to do with either him or Cass.

"Herb and Nancy's youngest, Ruby. She lit out sometime last night after a fight and they thought she stayed with her boyfriend, but she ain't come home yet, and Mickey says he ain't seen her at all."

"What does she look like?" Cassie asked and Nick realized he'd forgotten she was there.

"Oh, I've got a picture here, Miss," the deputy offered a school picture showing a pretty girl of about thirteen with long, dark braids, smiling for the camera.

"Shit…" Cassie backed away from the door, a stricken look on her face and Nick's stomach dropped.

"We'll be sure to help, let me just call in and tell Martin I'll be late," he said to draw the lawman's attention away from Cassie, who disappeared inside.

"No need. Everyone in the county's helping out in the search, they'll know where you are. Listen, if your friend's of a mind to, the women are setting up a communication hub at the high school, keeping coffee hot and such. She'd be more than welcome," he smiled.

Nick tried to picture Cassie surrounded by the women in town, fussing over a coffee maker and cutting up rice crispy squares. "Cass is more the type to be out there with the searchers, I think waiting around might drive her nuts."

"A bitty thing like her?" Perry's tone was skeptical. "She seemed tore up just at the news that the girl's gone missing."

A smile curved Nick's lips as he leaned back to see her at the table, scribbling away in her sketch book. "She's tougher than she looks."

"Well, I'd best be on my way, I've got plenty more stops to make before nightfall. I'll be seeing you," Perry tipped his hat and Nick returned the gesture with a half wave as he closed the door. "What is it, Cassie? Do you know what happened to her?" No answer came as her stub of a pencil flew across the page. "Cass?"

Finally she sat back, staring at the page, her brows drawn together into a single line. "Yeah," she replied softly. "I know what happened to her."

**A/N: Okay, a little bit of a cliffhanger, but at least I didn't leave it with the knock at the door, right? **

**Feedback is love.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**I know there are only a few of us following the Push fics, but these have been some of the _nicest_ reviews I've ever received, so thanks! Thanks to _driver picks the music_ for input on random exclamations. **

"_Herb and Nancy's youngest, Ruby. She lit out sometime last night after a fight and they thought she stayed with her boyfriend, but she ain't come home yet, and Mickey says he ain't seen her at all."_

"_What does she look like?" Cassie asked and Nick realized he'd forgotten she was there. _

"_Oh, I've got a picture here, Miss," the deputy offered a school picture showing a pretty girl of about thirteen with long, dark braids, smiling for the camera. _

"_Shit…" Cassie backed away from the door, a stricken look on her face and Nick's stomach dropped. _

"_We'll be sure to help, let me just call in and tell Martin I'll be late," he said to draw the lawman's attention away from Cassie, who disappeared inside._

"_No need. Everyone in the county's helping out in the search, they'll know where you are. Listen, if your friend's of a mind to, the women are setting up a communication hub at the high school, keeping coffee hot and such. She'd be more than welcome," he smiled._

_Nick tried to picture Cassie surrounded by the women in town, fussing over a coffee maker and cutting up rice crispy squares. "Cass is more the type to be out there with the searchers, I think waiting around might drive her nuts."_

"_A bitty thing like her?" Perry's tone was skeptical. "She seemed tore up just at the news that the girl's gone missing."_

_A smile curved Nick's lips as he leaned back to see her at the table, scribbling away in her sketch book. "She's tougher than she looks."_

"_Well, I'd best be on my way, I've got plenty more stops to make before nightfall. I'll be seeing you," Perry tipped his hat and Nick returned the gesture with a half wave as he closed the door. _

"_What is it, Cassie? Do you know what happened to her?" No answer came as her stub of a pencil flew across the page. "Cass?"_

_Finally she sat back, staring at the page, her brows drawn together into a single line. "Yeah," she replied softly. "I know what happened to her."_

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

At times like that I hated being a Watcher. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that even if we got to the girl in time, we wouldn't be able to save her. Not really; she was already broken. I can admit that a part of me was glad what I'd Seen didn't have anything to do with either Nick or me, except as it related to this girl, though I felt sick inside over what she'd been through.

It didn't take much to tap back into her thread, now that I knew what to look for. In that respect my power had grown considerably since I'd first met Nick; though some visions remained hidden from me no matter how hard I tried.

Satisfied with the way the sketch came out, I looked up to find Nick watching me and I almost forgot the crisis at hand as I recalled his last question before the interruption at the door.

Would I stick around?

It all depended. How much of a masochist was I? At seeing Nick's eager face, waiting to see what I came up with, I started to have the sneaking suspicion I didn't have a choice at all.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

"Where is she? Is she okay?" Already tugging on a flannel shirt over his wife beater, Nick shoved a pack of smokes into his front pocket and as an afterthought, kept the gun on him. While he didn't think he'd need it on the search for Ruby, with Cassie back in town, he never knew when trouble might erupt.

"This is what I saw, do you know this place?" Cassie held up the sketchpad, showing a girl with long, dark hair standing in front of a building. A sign in the window read "Reading is Fundamental", but there was no other signage present.

"Yeah, that's the library downtown. Come on, let's go check it out." Catching up his keys, he held the door open, a swipe of fingers through his hair the only other nod to personal grooming before they left.

Cassie led the way to the parking lot, unerringly knowing which truck was his. "I didn't think you knew how to read," she smirked, going for the passenger's side.

"Funny," he deadpanned.

"Not really. You should pick up a book every now and again Nick, before your brains turn to mush," she admonished him, climbing inside the unlocked truck.

Something about her tone of voice irked him. Like she thought she was so much better educated than he was? At least he'd gone to school; odds were she'd blown that off when she left her foster family. "How could you possibly tell what my brains are like? You've been gone for two years."

"I can just tell," she replied loftily, rolling down the window and fluffing up her tangled, damp hair.

Nick ignored that, not wanting to descend to her level. Instead he focused on getting them underway, starting up the engine with a roar and coaxing it into gear. "Put your seatbelt on," he grumbled, pushing the car lighter in out of habit. For once she did as she was told without argument, and they got a whole fifty feet before she invaded his personal space, snagging the cigarette from his lips after he'd barely taken the first drag. "What the hell?" he demanded, expecting to see her steal a hit off of it, but to his further annoyance, she crushed it out on the car door and tossed it out the window.

"Fry your lungs on your own time; I'm not getting emphysema because you have a nervous tic."

"I don't have a nervous tic. Smoking relaxes me," he frowned, not sure why he was defending his lifestyle choices to a girl who liked to dress like Ke$ha on acid.

"I can think of something better," she murmured, looking out the window, and he shot a glance in her direction, wondering what she meant by that. Damn if she didn't have him all mixed up inside, but he didn't light another cigarette.

It didn't take long to get to the library, the parking lot was near empty and Cassie was out the car door before the truck finished rolling to a stop. Swearing under his breath, Nick put on the parking break, jogging after her to catch up. He found her standing outside the building in the exact spot of the girl in her drawing, but instead of looking towards the window, her eyes went straight up to the roof of the three story building.

"We have to hurry."

There was no mistaking the urgency in her voice, and Nick followed where she led, trusting her implicitly to lead them to the right place. It took her a minute to find the stairwell access inside, but Cassie took the stairs two at a time in her haste to get to the top. With longer legs, Nick brushed past her, but Cassie only redoubled her efforts, "No wait, Nick… not like that…" she called after him, and he forced himself to slow down and wait for her, even though it chafed to think they might be too late. At the door to the roof, he couldn't wait any longer, throwing it open, he stepped out into the afternoon heat, squinting against the bright sun as he looked for any sign of the girl.

Finally he spotted her, peering over the ledge of the building. As he watched, she lifted her foot and stepped up, balancing precariously on the edge. His hand came up to Move her backwards to safety, but Cassie's hands clamped down on his arm. "No, you can't…" she gasped, breathing raggedly.

"But I can save her…" he protested, raising his other hand.

"No!" she hissed, stepping in front of him to block his view. "You can't do it that way. If you stop her, she'll just find another way to do it. She has to want to come down. Just keep her from falling, but don't pull her off the ledge, let me go talk to her," she pleaded. "Trust me."

It took everything Nick had in him not to Move the girl away from the edge, but the look in Cassie's eyes touched something long dormant inside of him. "I trust you," he nodded solemnly, impossibly buoyed by the little flicker of warmth he saw in her eyes at his words.

With a short nod she turned, approaching the girl cautiously, and Nick followed warily, prepared to Move them both on a moment's notice if need be. The closer he got, the more signs of distress he saw from the girl. She was crying and had been for some time, but there was also a growing bruise on her cheek and her wrists were red and raw. Christ, what had the kid been through? Did Cassie know?

"Ruby?" Cassie's voice was soft so as not to startle her, and Ruby didn't look in her direction, or give any sign that she heard it. "It's time to come down from there, Ruby, it's time to go home."

"Can't go home. Not anymore," Ruby mumbled.

"Yes, you can. You can always go home. Family loves you, no matter what," Cassie's voice throbbed with sincerity, and Nick felt a pang as he realized her words were wishful thinking. Neither one of them had family any more, not really.

Ruby's head shook from side to side and she wavered on the ledge. "Not anymore," she insisted in a broken voice.

"It's not your fault."

Now the girl's eyes rose to look at them, and Nick almost wished she hadn't. No girl that young should have such pain in her eyes, and he was reminded of when he'd first met Cassie. "Come on down from there, Ruby," he added gently to Cassie's plea when it appeared she had no intention of doing any such thing.

"I'm a Seer; do you know what that is?" Cassie tried again, and this time she caught Ruby's attention. The presence of Watchers or Movers in middle America was legendary at best, most people never encountered one in their lifetimes. Many knew about their existence in a fairytale sort of way, but no one thought they were real. No one knew of the presence of Division and their using psychics as chattel; that would have been too horrible to contemplate in a civilized world.

"Is that like… a fortune teller?" Ruby's voice was small, but interested.

"Something like that," Cassie smiled. "Trust me what I tell you, this isn't what you want to be doing."

"You don't know…" Ruby wavered again as her head shook, the momentary interest in Cassie outweighed by her personal pain.

"I know enough," Cassie insisted, her voice firm. "Let me ask you this, do you want to know what happens to him if you do this?" Nick couldn't quite guess what it was she referred to, he could only watch mutely as the drama unfolded. Ruby looked up again, and Cassie met her gaze squarely. "Nothing." A sharp intake of breath was all the reaction she got from Ruby, but Cassie pressed her advantage. "That's right, I said nothing. If you check out like this, no one finds out what he did to you, and he goes on with his life like nothing happened. Is that what you want?"

The girl began to tremble, fresh tears falling, and Cassie moved closer. "Do you really want him to get away with this? Do you want him to do that to someone else?" Ruby's head shook miserably, her shoulders bowed and Cassie held out a hand to her. "Come down and we'll talk. You don't have to go home now if you don't want to, but come down from there and we'll figure out what to do next."

Nick held his breath, his stomach clenching into a hard knot as it dawned on him what had happened to Ruby. Stunned, he watched as Ruby took the offered hand, climbing down to collapse against Cassie's side with great wracking sobs that broke his heart. Cassie's arms wrapped around the girl, murmuring soft words of comfort while the storm of emotions raged wild. Meeting Cassie's eyes above Ruby's head, he saw relief and despair mix in her blue eyes as the girl wept.

He resisted the urge to pull them both into a bear hug, not knowing if a man's touch would traumatize Ruby worse than she already was. Instead, he withdrew to the other side of the roof, where he could still keep an eye on them, and quietly called the girl's parents.

* * *

><p>"You were really great with her, you know that?" Hours later they drove back to the motel room. Cassie seemed a little quiet, less like her annoying, bubbly self, and Nick couldn't help but try to draw her into conversation.<p>

"I didn't do so much."

"Yeah you did, you saved her life."

"But I didn't stop what happened to her." There was profound sadness in her voice, and Nick wished he could look into her eyes to see the source of that pain, but the bumpy road demanded the lion's share of his attention. Was she just upset over what she'd seen with Ruby, or was there something deeper than empathy involved?

"That's not your fault, you can't know every bad thing that's going to happen," he countered, but Cassie shook her head, pulling the ends of her hair up to inspect them in the last rays of the dying sun.

"I Saw what happened to her though, and I didn't do anything to stop it."

Was that what was bothering her? "Did you know who she was when you Saw it? Had you even gotten to town yet?"

"Well, no…" she admitted, wrapping the strand of hair tightly around the end of her finger until it turned purple. "But in the shower, I Saw her up on the roof. I Saw her jump and fall… I didn't even try to find out who she was."

"But you had no way of knowing where to find her or when it would happen, right?"

"Yeah, but…"

"But nothing. You Saw what you were _meant_ to See, you know that, Cass. A vision of where she'd be, and enough of what happened to her to know how to talk her down. You were there exactly at the right place at the right time. You were right on the money. If I'd just Moved her out of harm's way, she would have found some other way to end it all."

Cassie was silent, reflecting over what was said, he imagined. "Did you just admit that I was right and you were wrong?" She stared at him a long moment and then stuck her head out the window, her denim encased behind turned up to him as she stared up into the sky, her hair catching the wind.

"What are you doing, trying to kill yourself?" his brows knit together as he reached across the cab to curl his fingers through her belt loops to tug her back into the truck.

"Looking for the pigs." Her teeth flashed in a brilliant smile rivaling the setting sun, which lent her long locks a shimmer of gold as they danced on the wind.

Sweet Jesus… she was breathtaking. When the hell had that happened?

* * *

><p>Oblivious to his disturbing train of thought, Cassie lapsed into companionable silence for the duration of the ride back to the room. When had she stopped yammering to fill the silence? Another trait that she'd lost with age, or maybe she didn't feel comfortable with him anymore?<p>

"You should take a shower, you smell like a goat," her nose wrinkled delicately as she squeezed past him.

Apparently she felt comfortable enough to say that to him though, and he glanced up at the clock. "Actually, I have to get ready for work anyway, but I'll shower when I get back." With the heat outside, there wasn't much point in cleaning up, just to head out to sweat at work.

"You have a job?" she blinked, as if the thought had never once occurred to her.

"So, you don't know everything after all, do you?" Nick elbowed her as he went to go brush his teeth at least.

"What do you do?" Cassie followed after him, perching on the side of the tub as she watched him in the mirror.

"I work… in town," he replied cautiously, focusing on brushing thoroughly.

"Why don't you want to tell me what you do for a living?" her head canted to one side as she studied him. "You know I don't care if it's illegal."

Nick frowned at her in the mirror. "It's a legit job, why can't you just drop it?" He could have told her, he supposed, but part of him was curious whether she could See it on her own.

Right on cue, Cassie got a blank look on her face, which gave way to wide eyes of astonishment. "You work in a manure plant?"

"It's a fertilizer company," his face darkened in direct correlation to how much delight the concept seemed to give her.

"You literally shovel shit for a living?" she laughed incredulously.

"Hey, someone has to do it. And it's an honest living." Pushing past her, he pulled his heavier coat out of the closet for the drive home.

"Yeah… honestly disgusting." Cassie collapsed on the chair in a fit of giggles, while Nick scowled over his shoes, making a show of retying them tightly while he watched her surreptitiously through downcast lashes.

In all honesty, he didn't work on the floor shoveling shit or anything else, he was a shift foreman at the new fertilizer plant, and they were behind schedule with the search for Ruby. But he let her hang onto the misconception just to make her smile again; it was addicting to see her lose that jaded smirk and truly laugh. It was much more interesting to him to note how quickly she'd been able to See where he worked, her power had grown just as his had.

It was harder than Nick thought it would be to leave her, and he hesitated by the door, wondering if he should call in sick or something. But plenty of people in town had seen him talking to the cops and Ruby's parents, and he had a responsibility to show up. Still… he hovered by the door, watching Cassie pull off her boots and scrunch her toes against the threadbare carpet.

"I'd better get going. So, watch TV or order pizza or whatever, but stay here, okay? I'll be back around two or three probably."

"Yes Sir," she gave him a mock salute, still sighing over her amusement.

"You'll be here?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, I'll be here," she smiled.

* * *

><p>Later that night, Nick took great pains to come in as silently as possible, but he needn't have worried, Cassie was out like a light. She didn't even flinch when he accidentally dropped his keys on the hard linoleum floor of the kitchenette. Without turning on any lights, he pulled a cold beer out of the fridge, leaning against the counter as his eyes adjusted to the gloom.<p>

Cassie lay sprawled across his bed, only partially covered by the thin sheet, the curtains casting shadows against her limbs in the pale moonlight. She looked softer in her sleep, but Nick fancied the dark shadows under her eyes had less to do with the curtains and more to do with the exhaustion that seeped into a person's bones when they spent too much time on the road alone. The tye-dyed tank top she wore contrasted brightly against the drab bedclothes, but all Nick could focus on was the expanse of bare leg peeping out from the sheet. A smooth, silky leg that led him to the scrap of lace that passed for underwear.

Who was this woman laying in his bed?

In sleep, he could see the resemblance to the girl he once knew, but there was so much that had changed. Even when they'd dropped her off at the foster home, Cassie was already growing up; he just hadn't wanted to see it. And now… what was he supposed to do with her? Take her in as his ward? That was laughable, she'd been on her own for too long to want a keeper. His sister? The word tasted like ashes in his mouth, but was that what she wanted from him? Her words to Ruby about family made him wonder, what had happened to her mother? Nick had to admit, he didn't want her to leave before he found the answers.

Or maybe he just didn't want her to leave.

Nick Moved the blanket to cover her slight form, because he didn't dare get close enough to touch her, not with the thoughts running through his mind. Cassie made a little snuffling noise in her sleep and promptly kicked them off again.

It was gonna be a long night.

**A/N: I wonder if I can find the soundtrack to Push somewhere? Every time I hear the music in my head it makes me want to write more of this…**

**Feedback is love.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**I had only intended Cassie's voice to be a little bit of a narrator and the majority of the story through Nick's eyes, but I feel like writing a bit more Cass this go around. **

_Later that night, Nick took great pains to come in as silently as possible, but he needn't have worried, Cassie was out like a light. She didn't even flinch when he accidentally dropped his keys on the hard linoleum floor of the kitchenette. Without turning on any lights, he pulled a cold beer out of the fridge, leaning against the counter as his eyes adjusted to the gloom. _

_Cassie lay sprawled across his bed, only partially covered by the thin sheet, the curtains casting shadows against her limbs in the pale moonlight. She looked softer in her sleep, but Nick fancied the dark shadows under her eyes had less to do with the curtains and more to do with the exhaustion that seeped into a person's bones when they spent too much time on the road alone. The tye-dyed tank top she wore contrasted brightly against the drab bedclothes, but all Nick could focus on was the expanse of bare leg peeping out from the sheet. A smooth, silky leg that led him to the scrap of lace that passed for underwear. _

_Who was this woman laying in his bed?_

_In sleep, he could see the resemblance to the girl he once knew, but there was so much that had changed. Even when they'd dropped her off at the foster home, Cassie was already growing up; he just hadn't wanted to see it. And now… what was he supposed to do with her? Take her in as his ward? That was laughable, she'd been on her own for too long to want a keeper. His sister? The word tasted like ashes in his mouth, but was that what she wanted from him? Her words to Ruby about family made him wonder, what had happened to her mother? Nick had to admit, he didn't want her to leave before he found the answers. _

_Or maybe he just didn't want her to leave. _

_Nick Moved the blanket to cover her slight form, because he didn't dare get close enough to touch her, not with the thoughts running through his mind. Cassie made a little snuffling noise in her sleep and promptly kicked them off again. _

_It was gonna be a long night._

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

I remember when Nick used to be a morning person, up at the butt-crack of dawn dragging my ass out of bed. But somewhere along the line since I'd left, he turned into the messy slob snoring in the easy chair at nine a.m. I guess I couldn't blame him, he'd stayed up way later than I had, though he did wake me up when he stomped into the room like a Rhino on steroids.

It hadn't occurred to me that he'd have to sleep in the chair when I'd appropriated his bed. In the past we'd been known to share, or he'd make up a bed on the floor, but that was a long time ago, and there had always been a third person in the room. If anything, I was the one to sleep in a couple of chairs pushed together and Nick and Kira had taken the bed, so it was nice to get the bed for once. But in looking at him, I was struck by a pang of guilt at seeing the unnatural angle his head lay in, he was definitely gonna have a crick in his neck when he woke up. I figured maybe we could work out a schedule or something on who got the bed if he was feeling prissy about sharing.

I was halfway through making breakfast when I felt him stir, but I let him wake up on his own, getting used to me being there; at least until he started to light up again. "Not in the room, okay?" I stole that one away too, dropping it into a bowl of eggshells in the sink. Though I really didn't want him smoking at all, I wasn't his mom or his girlfriend, and I figured I had no say what he did when he wasn't in my immediate air space.

Nick just frowned at me, still blinking at the morning light until I pressed a cup of hot coffee into his hands and he perked up a little. "What is that?" he asked, his voice raspy with disuse.

"It's breakfast," I replied, as if that wasn't the stupidest question I'd heard in a while. What did he think I was doing? The smell of bacon in the air should have made it evident even if he couldn't see into the pan.

"No, what is _that_," he pointed to the hot plate sitting on the counter, allowing me to make crispy bacon in the first place.

"Wally loaned it to me. You can't make bacon in the microwave."

"Wally," he processed that for a moment, rolling his neck first one way and then the other with a grimace. Yep, he definitely had a crick in the neck. "The motel manager knows you're staying here with me?"

I could hear the disapproval in his voice and I cut him off before he worked up too much steam. "Relax, I told him I was your sister from Georgia." Only instead of relaxing, the furrow cut into his forehead only deepened for reasons beyond my comprehension. Instead of worrying about it, I turned back to turning the bacon.

"Why Georgia?" he finally asked.

"So I could do an accent, duh, why should you have all the fun?" It's the little things in life that you have to grab a hold of to bring you happiness. Pretending to be a southern belle and Nick's long lost sister had tickled me for no good reason, but I went with it.

"You went to see the manager in your underwear?"

God, sometimes he really was thick… "No, I borrowed it last night after you went to work."

"I thought I told you to stay here."

"I did… more or less." He acted like I was too young to be out at night on my own, we both knew that was a load of crap. Sitting alone in a dirty motel room with no cable TV was not my idea of a good time. Neither was cleaning up the place, but I hadn't been able to relax in filth. Thankfully the motel manager had offered not only cleaning supplies, but the hot plate and a miniature coffee pot that only made one cup of coffee at a time. The least he could do for a pretty gal like me, he'd said.

"What else did you do last night?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I smiled at him over my shoulder, wishing it had been more interesting than cleaning and buying a few groceries, but Nick seemed to think I'd been up to no good. Who did he think had cleaned up? The toilet faerie? But to be fair, he hadn't had a chance to see it in daylight yet. I looked back at him when he didn't say anything else, a little surprised to find him staring at my legs. Not that I minded, it was just… a first.

I turned back to the bacon, a frisson of awareness going through me as I felt his eyes on me. I hadn't thought twice about starting breakfast in my tank top and underwear, he'd never worried about walking around in his boxer briefs in front of me before, but we were definitely in new territory.

"Put some pants on," he groaned, rubbing at his forehead.

I decided to ignore the order, he wasn't the boss of me and everything important was covered. Since when had he become a prig? "I will after I eat and take a shower. You on the other hand have to shower before you eat. Now you smell like a goat that's been trapped in the trunk of a car for a week." I wasn't exaggerating too much; he had the overall smell of sweat and just a tinge of manure.

"Put something on first," he insisted sternly and I could see he had his _resolved_ face on. When Nick got the _resolved_ face, there was no point in arguing with him because he'd just stop and wait until you caved in. Usually he was big and strong enough to get his way when push came to shove, but I did have a fleeting fantasy of him trying to wrangle me into some pants that put a smile on my face.

"Fine, I'll put something on. God, when did you turn into such a girl?" I tugged on a pair of shorts, turning in a circle for him to take in the full effect. "There is that better?" I demanded, hand on my hip.

His eyes traveled the length of my body, sending another bout of tingles through me again, and I heard him let out a long breath. "No, that's not better," he muttered, pushing himself up to his feet. "I'm gonna go shower," he sighed, taking the cup of coffee with him.

"Don't take too long, the bacon's almost done and your eggs will be ready soon," I called after him, the remains of a smile playing on my lips. I usually didn't give a damn what people thought about the way I looked; I dressed for comfort, and I was limited in what I had to work with. My own unique sense of style ran towards bright colors mixed with a darker edge, but I'd come to dress to blend in more in the past year for safety's sake. For whatever reason, he was affected by the sight of my bare legs, and I just needed to figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

I had just finished my eggs and was about to start on my bacon, which I'd saved for last as a rare treat, when Nick appeared in nothing but a towel slung low around his waist and a cloud of moisture surrounding him like a halo as he emerged from the bathroom. I almost wished I was a _timer_ so I could stop time and really look my fill. _Damn_ he was a beautiful man, and not a self conscious bone in his body. The shower seemed to have done him good, erasing his earlier bout of the grumpiness, and he greeted me with a smile as I tried not to stare at the little droplets of water that clung to his chest.

"So, I can't smoke, but it's okay for you to clog my arteries with grease?" he grinned, stealing a piece of my bacon.

"Don't eat any then, I made you eggs too," I made no objection to the theft, I was too busy noticing that he smelled a lot better as he leaned close.

"I can't help it; you've got the whole place smelling like bacon, it's literally impossible for me not to eat some." He took another piece for good measure.

"Hey, stop stealing my grease!" I complained on principle alone. "Yours is on the counter.

"But yours looks so tasty," he teased, stealing another piece, and I made a dive for it, springing out of my chair, but he was much faster. Instead of eating it, he let go and the piece of bacon hovered in the air, right in front of my eyes. When I reached for it, the strip of bacon bobbed about a foot over my head and then just out of reach when I tried again.

"Really?" I shook my head in exasperation. "There's plenty of food for the both of us."

"But this one is the most delicious, crispy piece of bacon on the planet. Just look how tasty it is." The bacon bobbed lower again, dancing between us.

"Did a bag of manure fall on your head last night? You are acting so retarded…"

"Or am I the smartest person you know?" Nick waggled the bacon before breaking off a piece and popping it into his mouth, all without using his hands at all. His control really had grown considerably, I had to admit, but I could never let him know I was impressed.

"You really are a child, you know that?" Without waiting for a response, I snagged a piece of bacon off of his plate and disappeared into the bathroom to take my shower.

"One of us ought to be…" he muttered, just before I closed the door.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

Nick managed to avoid any serious thought about Cassie for the remainder of the morning, joking around to keep things light. One thought kept teasing the edge of his mind though; she'd told the manager she was his sister. It seemed like confirmation enough that it was how she wanted it to be. That and the way she pranced around in her underwear all morning as if it wasn't a big deal. Well if that's what she wanted, he'd try his damnedest to be that for her; hence the teasing and goofiness, trying to establish that old, easy repartee between them. At some point they'd have to figure out what to do about the future and the big D hanging over their heads, but for the moment he just enjoyed having her back into his life.

When he went off to work mid-afternoon, he expected to lose himself in the hassles and daily grind there, but he found his thoughts kept returning to a certain blonde pain in his ass… particularly when he looked up to see her strolling down the catwalk over head, as if she had every right to be there. The little shorts were gone, replaced by a gauzy pink skirt that moved when she did, as though it was a part of her. Given the vantage point below and the metal grill she walked on, Nick and everyone on the floor below got a free show of what she wore beneath too, and something akin to anger boiled within his chest as he noticed other men looking.

With the too brief skirt, Cassie wore one of his white wifebeaters, knotted tight in the front so she didn't drown in it, revealing far more than he'd like of a hot pink bra underneath. Perched on top of her head was a scuffed hard hat, a requirement for being on the floor, which meant she'd obviously already gotten permission to be there from someone. Had she told them she was his sister as well?

A chorus of cat calls came from the men on the floor and Nick's temper flared. "Hey, show some respect," he called out.

"Shit, I didn't know you had a sister," Greg murmured with a low whistle as she descended the stairs.

"She's not my sister," he choked, remembering belatedly that his answer didn't match what she'd started spreading. "She's my…" Christ… what was she?

"Damn Rollie, Nick's got himself a regular squeeze." Greg moved off to join the others and Nick hit the buzzer for the dinner break, hoping some of them would move off, but they all seemed content to loiter on the floor. All set to read her the riot act for showing up like that, he lost his train of thought when she greeted him with a blinding smile.

"Hey Nick, you busy?"

"I'm at work…" he recovered, grabbing her by the elbow and dragging her away from the line of men who all lingered to watch the exchange.

"Why didn't you tell me you're the bossman? That's not embarrassing at all."

"What are you wearing?" he asked in a low voice, sending a glare at Greg who leaned on his workbench like he had nothing better to do in the world than to watch them.

"Clothes." Cassie gave no sign that she was aware of his annoyance at all.

"Are you sure?"

"What? You didn't like my shorts so I changed into something else."

"Do you always leave the house looking like that?" He desperately wanted to throw a hazmat suit onto her just to keep her from prying eyes.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with what I'm wearing," she frowned, tugging at the bottom of the tank to cover the strip of flesh visible above her skirt, which only tugged the neckline lower…

"You can't go around like that in a small town like this; you'll have every guy within a ten mile radius following after you with his tongue hanging out."

"Thanks," she brightened at the remark, bringing a scowl to his face.

"I didn't mean it as a compliment. I'm serious Cass, this is a conservative town."

"Like hell it is! I saw a girl on the street in cutoff shorts so short her cheeks were hanging out the back! And another girl who wore a bikini top with a skirt shorter than mine…"

"I don't care what they were wearing; I just care what _you_ wear."

Cassie patted him lightly on the cheek. "Aw, that's sweet that you care about my reputation, Nick, but I can take care of myself."

"The hell you can. I'm responsible for you now, and you'll have to dress more appropriately around town, I mean it, Cass." Nick crossed his arms, fixing her with the most serious expression he could muster.

A roll of the eyes was given. "Fine, whatever. I'll dress like I'm twelve, that'll make you feel right at home, won't it?" she grumbled.

Nick dodged that question, it hit too close to home. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I brought you something to eat." Cassie produced a fat submarine sandwich from her shoulder bag.

"You didn't have to come all the way down here, I was gonna grab something off the roach coach."

"You don't want my sandwich?" She looked offended and his hands came up in supplication.

"No, I didn't say that. Why do you keep trying to feed me?" he wondered aloud.

"I'll take it back then," she started to put it away again, but Nick reached after her arm.

"No I want it."

"I don't want to force you to eat something you don't want to eat…"

"Give me the damn sandwich, Cass," he all but growled and she handed it over, all smiles.

"Here you go."

It did look much tastier than anything he could get on the truck. "How did you get out here anyway?" Leading her to the desk he shared with the early shift foreman, he set the sandwich down and gestured for her to take a seat.

Plopping down into the chair, she swiveled back and forth, first one way and then the other, sending her skirt riding alternately higher depending on the direction she turned, "I hitched a ride."

"With a total stranger," he deadpanned, not quite sure why he was even surprised to hear it.

"I'm new in town, besides you, the Sheriff and Wally the manager, _everybody's_ a stranger to me. Why are you getting all bent out of shape anyway? Texas is like the friendliest state on the map, I've hitched in way worse places."

Nick's hand came up to stem the flow of words. "Please don't tell me any more, I prefer to live in ignorance."

"Aw, poor Nick, does it bother you to think about someone taking advantage of little old me?" She batted her eyelashes at him, making her voice soft and breathy and it did things to his insides. Hell yeah, it bothered him to think of someone taking advantage of her in _any_ way, did that honestly surprise her?

"Behave or I'll turn you over my knee and teach you some manners," he grumbled, trying to regain the upper hand in the conversation.

"Could be fun," she considered aloud, completely unconcerned over the hollow threat. "But that's the sort of thing we should explore at home, don't you think?" she smiled archly.

There was no way he was touching that. "Speaking of home, why don't you head on back there. You can take my truck; I'll catch a ride home with one of the guys." His hand froze with the keys in mid air. "You do know how to drive, don't you?"

"Of course," she plucked them out of his hand, her delicate fingers brushing against his. "I could come and pick you up when you get off work."

"No, you get your sleep, I'll be fine."

"Alright then, I'll see you back at the room later. Try not to be so loud coming in this time."

"Sorry." Damn, she'd been awake? Did she realize how long he'd sat there staring at her in the darkness? Nick started to feel like the biggest perv on the planet. He had to pull himself together and get over it; more than anything he just wanted things to go back to how they were before.

Seemingly oblivious to his discomfort, Cassie paused on her way past him. "Oh and Nick?

"Yeah?" Cassie leaned close, and he got a whiff of her light perfume, it was delicate, like white roses, not what he'd expected from her at all.

"My safe word is waffles."

**A/N: You guys still with me? At this rate I'll be done with this story in no time! But I've got to strike when the Muse bites, no?**

**Feedback is love.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**I'm glad you guys are liking the lighter side of things. I know the movie was a little heavier, but I figure it's been a while since these guys have had to tussle with Division or anyone else, so right at the moment it's more about them reconnecting than dealing with anything else. But don't worry, there's more drama to ensue where Division and Kira are involved, just not quite yet. **

"_Aw, poor Nick, does it bother you to think about someone taking advantage of little old me?" She batted her eyelashes at him, making her voice soft and breathy and it did things to his insides. Hell yeah, it bothered him to think of someone taking advantage of her in any way, did that honestly surprise her?_

"_Behave or I'll turn you over my knee and teach you some manners," he grumbled, trying to regain the upper hand in the conversation._

"_Could be fun," she considered aloud, completely unconcerned over the hollow threat. "But that's the sort of thing we should explore at home, don't you think?" she smiled archly. _

_There was no way he was touching that. "Speaking of home, why don't you head on back there. You can take my truck; I'll catch a ride home with one of the guys." His hand froze with the keys in mid air. "You do know how to drive, don't you?"_

"_Of course," she plucked them out of his hand, her delicate fingers brushing against his. "I could come and pick you up when you get off work."_

"_No, you get your sleep, I'll be fine."_

"_Alright then, I'll see you back at the room later. Try not to be so loud coming in this time."_

"_Sorry." Damn, she'd been awake? Did she realize how long he'd sat there staring at her in the darkness? Nick started to feel like the biggest perv on the planet. He had to pull himself together and get over it; more than anything he just wanted things to go back to how they were before. _

_Seemingly oblivious to his discomfort, Cassie paused on her way past him. "Oh, and Nick?_

"_Yeah?" Cassie leaned close, and he got a whiff of her light perfume, it was delicate, like white roses, not what he'd expected from her at all. _

"_My safe word is waffles." _

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

I decided to take it easy on old Nick, and changed into my last remaining clean shirt, a band t-shirt for a nothing band I'd picked up for free in Virginia. It was a little tight now, but it covered everything, and that seemed to be his biggest concern. It was too hot to put on jeans though, so I left my skirt on, it covered more than my shorts did and that was about the extent I was willing to sacrifice my comfort for his.

It was tempting to turn out the lights and go to sleep, but when I tried it, I just lay there in the dark, thinking about the day's events. Okay, so I might have spent more than a few passing moments thinking about Nick in that towel… but ah… what was I talking about again? Right, why I couldn't sleep. Whatever the reason, I gave up trying and decided to wait up for him, just to make sure he'd gotten over whatever bug was up his butt over my impromptu visit to his work.

When he came in just after midnight, I was making myself a bag of microwave popcorn. "Hey, you're home early." I hoped nothing was wrong, but he didn't seem bent out of shape, just a little tired.

"I let the boys go home early tonight; the truck we were expecting got delayed." He stripped off his coat and shirt, leaving him in his wifebeater and Dickies, sitting down to unlace his boots.

I grabbed a beer for him out of the fridge and handed it over without a word. He smiled his thanks and took a long pull before setting it down to finish with his boots. I didn't even ask him if I could have one, I was still trying to lull him into a feeling of false comfort. Besides, I never liked the combination of beer and popcorn. Blecch.

"I thought you'd be asleep by now. I was all set to dazzle you with my sneaky entry until I saw the lights on. What's the matter, couldn't sleep?"

"The Sound of Music is on," I replied, and he instantly accepted the answer. It was a well known fact that it was one of my favorite movies, and I never missed it when it was on. Don't judge me, it's corny and old as the hills, but I always enjoy it when it's on.

He sat there watching me from the chair while I retrieved my popcorn from the microwave and settled in on the bed with a faint smile on his face, until I called him on it. "What?"

"Oh nothing," he waved the question away. "I guess I'm surprised you still like to watch The Sound of Music, that's all."

"Hey, it's a classic, besides you like it too," I defended myself. Nick had more than once joined along in singing about lonely goats in the past. "So stop being a hater and come on up here and watch it with me." I patted the bed beside me.

"It's late…" he protested, but I fancied I saw him eye the spot beside me with something akin to longing.

"Yeah, and I'm not turning the TV off until it's over, so you might as well make yourself comfortable, right?" I thought for a minute he wasn't going to go for it, but then he pushed himself up to his feet and came over to the bed, waving me to scoot over so he could have the side of the bed closest to the door. Always thinking defensively, that Nick.

"What part are we up to?" he asked, settling down beside me, beer in hand, and I flashed him a triumphant grin.

"We're almost to the good part. The Baroness just arrived, and the hills are about to be alive with the sound again. See, there they are in the boat." I scooted up against the headboard a little, adjusting the pillows so we'd be more comfortable before breaking into the popcorn.

"Right, the clothes made out of drapes," he nodded, eyes on the screen. "Time for Papa to lay down the law, just as it should be."

I knew the dig was aimed at me, and I couldn't help but needle him back. "Yeah, but she still gets her way, women always do, you know."

His lips twitched, and I could tell he was fighting a smile. "Only when it's what we men want deep down anyway. He's already half in love with her at this point, remember?"

_Didn't I know it… _ "Isn't that the whole point? Sometimes men are too dumb to figure out what they want, and we women have to help point you in the right direction." Suddenly we were talking about something else entirely, at least I was, and my mouth went dry as I waited for him to reply. Instead, he pretended to be sucked into the movie as they yelled at each other on screen, completely ignoring my last statement. "Nick…"

"Time to sing," he flashed a grin, and I let the moment pass, unwilling to let that smile fade.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

Now this… this he remembered. Sitting around in a nameless motel room, watching The Sound of Music with his girls. It never failed to pull them out of whatever funk they'd slipped under. No other musical seemed to have that same magical pull, though he'd been known to sing about a jolly holiday or two with Mary Poppins; the plight of the Van Trapp family against the backdrop of the war had resonated with the trio. Kira had never joined them in song, waving away any attempts to get her to join in, but Cassie, she'd always sung from the heart.

He'd forgotten what it was like to have someone around to talk about everything and nothing. He had to admit it was nice to have someone to come home to, even if it was just to watch a stupid movie with. And Cassie was at least as entertaining as the movie itself. Once she settled in to watch, he spent more time watching her expressive face than he did the movie itself. Especially during the musical numbers when she lost her urge to chatter and threw herself headlong into the songs.

It was strange to hear her sing the same songs now, her voice richer, though still high and sweet. He could have sat there listening to her all night, but she didn't let him, she demanded he join in. Soon he was singing beside her, as if they didn't have a care in the world, and pretty soon he _didn't_.

All he wanted was for it to go on like that, with no worries or cares. Things were going well at work. He could easily afford to get them a nicer place, and maybe she could get a part time job or even finish school if he could talk her into it. They could make their own family together and then maybe… when she was older… well, anything was possible.

Cassie's head dropped onto his shoulder and he leaned into it without thinking, settling into a comfortable silence while they watched the end of the movie. The popcorn long since consumed, the desire to sing and talk had faded as the late hour took its toll, but neither one of them wanted to call it a night just yet.

"How much older do you think he is than Fraulein Maria?" Her words were soft in the darkened room.

"Ah… quite a bit, I mean Liesl's what, sixteen going on seventeen?" Nick grinned, and then his smile tightened and he nodded, forcing himself to look back at the screen instead of her sweet upturned face. Cassie was seventeen. Practically an adult, but he couldn't let himself think of her in those terms. "Those were different times."

"Some things don't change."

"And some things do."

"I've changed," she pointed out.

"Tell me about it…" Way more than he knew what to do with.

"So have you."

"Have I?" he craned his head to look at her again.

"No, I take it back, you always were kinda dense."

"Huh?" he blinked, not having a clue what she was talking about.

"See? You just proved my point."

Nick was just about to ask her what the hell she was talking about, when she stiffened at his side, her eyes going wide and sightless. He recognized that look and his muscles instantly tightened in anticipation. "What is it? What do you See, Cass?"

Cassie shielded her eyes as if the light from the TV pained her, and she spoke in a strangled voice. "I See… choking, I'm choking… I could die…"

Nick's stomach clenched with dread as he searched her face. "That's not gonna happen, Cass, I promise you." He brushed the hair away from her face, cradling her body towards his protectively. Whatever it was, they'd cheat it, like they always had. "What else do you See?"

"You can stop it, but you have to do something quick. I'll die…unless you get me something to drink…" she stopped twitching, her tongue caught between her teeth as she grinned up at him.

"What?" he blinked at the sudden change.

"Pretty please with sugar on top? I could totally go for a nice cold drink after all that salt."

"Are you kidding me right now? That was bullshit?" he demanded, letting go of her and Cassie collapsed on the bed in a fit of giggles.

"Oh man, you should have seen your face!"

Nick's hands began to shake as the aftermath of adrenaline coursed through him. "Jesus Christ Cassie, you… you just don't do that…"

"Oh come on, it was funny."

"To you maybe, I thought…" he swallowed past the lump in his throat, trying to hold onto the relief he should feel that everything was still okay.

Still laughing, Cassie tried to get him to look at her. "Don't be mad, I couldn't help it. Can't you take a joke?"

"I live with you, don't I?" he retorted sourly, shaking away the last of the terror. "You like to laugh, do you?" Nick's lips curved into a wicked grin. "I'll give you something to laugh about. His fingers reached for her sides where she'd always been ticklish, and she squealed, her hands clamping down on top of them. Cassie wriggled and squirmed, an outraged look on her face, and she reached up with her toes to try and tickle him back. It might have worked since she was freakishly bendy, but Nick took the advantage, using his power to tease her sensitive sides without his hands.

"No fair, that's cheating!" Cassie spluttered as soon as she caught on to what he was doing.

"Really? Cause I think it's kinda funny," he grinned triumphantly, giving her another dose for good measure.

"God, Nick stop… please!" she gasped, arching up under him, and all of a sudden a wave of desire shot through him, as he pictured her saying that to him under a different kind of a clinch. Unable to focus, he stopped using his ability on her, and they both lay there, panting and sweaty with exertion, her body half pinned beneath his. Her hair fanned out around the pillow like a golden cloud as she smiled up at him, still laughing softly as she caught her breath.

She was so beautiful… more than anything he wanted to lean down and kiss those parted lips, hear her begging him _not_ to stop. In that moment it seemed like she wanted it too. He leaned down, moving slow enough for her to pull away if she wanted to. Her eyes widened slightly at the motion, but Nick thought he saw acceptance, and maybe even desire shining back at him as he closed the distance between them.

Until a knock sounded at the door and he froze, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Stay here," he breathed, suddenly all business, because a knock at that time of night was never anything good. The gun hovered behind his back by the time he rose to his feet, and Nick approached the door warily, wishing for the second time in two days that his door had a peephole cut into it. Maybe he'd talk to Wally about it? Or maybe the late night call meant they'd be moving on? Cautiously, he cracked the door open, but it swung wide from his nerveless fingers at seeing who stood outside.

"Hey Nick, are you ready for me?" The pretty brunette's smile faltered as she took in his expression, and he barely caught the gun before it clattered to the floor, sending it into his hand and he tucked it away. "We had a date, remember?"

Not so much a date as a booty call, he and Jackie never actually went out when she came over after work, though he did try and take her out to dinner every now and again. How had he completely forgotten she was supposed to come over that night? The answer to that question stared at him hard enough to bore a hole through the back of his head, and Nick turned to give Cassie a helpless look.

Jackie's head tilted as she saw the direction of Nick's attention, her shiny pink lips drawing to a pout. "Or did I get my signals crossed?"

"What? Oh no, yeah we did, we do. I'm sorry, I forgot," Nick suddenly recovered his voice, talking fast when he saw Jackie's pout. "This is… no, this is nothing… she's my…" damn, how did he explain what Cassie was doing in his bed? He could hardly call her his sister, especially given the way he'd been about to kiss her, and with a clearer head, he realized he'd been saved from making a terrible mistake.

Cassie was already sitting up, tugging on her scuffed boots with short, angry movements.

Nick stepped back, unable to come up with the words to dig himself out of the hole he was in. "Uh, Cassie, this is Jackie. Jackie this is…"

"I'm nothing," Cassie finished for him, her voice completely devoid of life but for the hard edge that was meant just for him. Slipping on her dark hoodie, she slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Cassie, wait…" real panic struck him as he thought she might _leave_ leave, but her next words eased his mind on that account.

"I'm taking the truck, it's obvious you won't need it tonight." Cassie's eyes raked over Jackie with a critical glare. "Change the sheets before I get back though, okay? I don't want to sleep in your leftovers."

"Cass…"

"Don't wait up."

Nick took two steps after her once he got his feet to obey him again, but stopped as he saw her climb into the truck. "She shouldn't be out driving this late," he muttered, torn between wanting to follow her and drag her back to the room and letting her get out and cool off a bit first.

"I think she's a big girl," Jackie replied speculatively. "Now, are you gonna invite me in or not?"

Nick stared after Cassie until the truck lurched out of the parking lot, and then he pushed the door open a little wider in invitation, until Jackie came in with a satisfied smile.

**A/N: I'm evil, I know. But I couldn't let them get too close too fast, could I?**

**Feedback is love.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**I know, I know, that last chapter was pretty evil. I couldn't resist though. You KNOW Nick hasn't been living like a monk since Kira left, but I like the idea that the girl Jackie meant so little to him that he completely forgot about her when Cassie showed up. **

"_What? Oh no, yeah we did, we do. I'm sorry, I forgot," Nick suddenly recovered his voice, talking fast when he saw Jackie's pout. "This is… no, this is nothing… she's my…" damn, how did he explain what Cassie was doing in his bed? He could hardly call her his sister, especially given the way he'd been about to kiss her, and with a clearer head, he realized he'd been saved from making a terrible mistake. _

_Cassie was already sitting up, tugging on her scuffed boots with short, angry movements. _

_Nick stepped back, unable to come up with the words to dig himself out of the hole he was in. "Uh, Cassie, this is Jackie. Jackie this is…"_

"_I'm nothing," Cassie finished for him, her voice completely devoid of life but for the hard edge that was meant just for him. Slipping on her dark hoodie, she slung her bag over her shoulder._

"_Cassie, wait…" real panic struck him as he thought she might leave leave, but her next words eased his mind on that account. _

"_I'm taking the truck, it's obvious you won't need it tonight." Cassie's eyes raked over Jackie with a critical glare. "Change the sheets before I get back though, okay? I don't want to sleep in your leftovers." _

"_Cass…"_

"_Don't wait up."_

_Nick took two steps after her once he got his feet to obey him again, but stopped as he saw her climb into the truck. "She shouldn't be out driving this late," he muttered, torn between wanting to follow her and drag her back to the room and letting her get out and cool off a bit first._

"_I think she's a big girl," Jackie replied speculatively. "Now, are you gonna invite me in or not?"_

_Nick stared after Cassie until the truck lurched out of the parking lot, and then he pushed the door open a little wider in invitation, until Jackie came in with a satisfied smile._

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

For a smart guy, Nick can be a total idiot.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

Maybe it was just hormones. Too much testosterone swimming around in his system. That sounded like a good reason why he'd been about to take advantage of a seventeen year old girl. Because Nick could admit it, he'd been about to kiss Cassie and more, if he hadn't been saved by the door. It had to be hormones, or something in the air to make him override everything he knew was honest and decent to throw it away for a fit of lust.

Or maybe it was loneliness that had seeped into his bones since Kira left? Nick could admit it was as much loneliness as lust that had him inviting Jackie over on a semi-regular basis. He could even admit that in certain light, she bore a striking resemblance to Kira, though they were nothing alike personality wise. Jackie was simple and uncomplicated, the way he'd wanted it to be. It was safer that way, in every respect.

Only it wasn't lust or loneliness that had Nick thinking of long, blonde hair as he held Jackie close. But therein lay the path to madness, and he forced away that train of thought, focusing on the woman in his arms. Jackie was yammering on about something or other, but Nick didn't even pretend to listen to her as he let her push him down on the bed. He didn't want to talk, he didn't want to think, all he wanted to do was lose himself in the moment, to try and recover that simple, uncomplicated life he'd carved out for himself.

Jackie caught on quick that he wasn't in the mood to share about his day or his blonde little friend, and she was only too happy to oblige, her hands moving fast to bring his full attention back to her. Soon his body took over and devoid of thought, he pressed her back against the mattress, giving vent to his earlier repressed desires in the arms of another. She was warm and willing, her fervent whispers letting him know he was touching her in all the right places. In his mind's eye he pictured another set of lips at his ear, another pair of legs parting for him, his hands sifting through a spill of golden hair as he rolled above her…

_Jesus Christ… what was he doing?_ Nick froze, his eyes focusing on the woman beneath him, her lips parted in anticipation. "Wait… I need to… let's slow down a minute…"

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Dark eyes searched his face, lips settling back into the familiar, petulant pout. Nick didn't answer; instead he rolled off of her, groaning into his hands as they covered his face.

"What the hell, Nick?" she scowled, sitting up.

"Just give me a minute…" he pleaded, but he knew it would take more than that; he couldn't go through with it.

"It's her isn't it?"

Nick's eyes popped open, his hands falling away. "No…" _not completely anyway_. He looked up to give Jackie the best smile he could muster. "It's really not. And it's not you either, it's me, it's all me. My head's all fucked up right now and… I think maybe it'd be best if you just went home."

Jackie's brows knit together into a single dark line. "Go home… Nick, whatever it is, I can make you feel better, trust me." Giving it a final try, she ran her finger down the length of his bare chest.

Oh, she could, he knew she could, but somehow Nick didn't think he deserved to feel better just then. Covering her hand with his before it delved too low, he shook his head in regret. "I'm sorry."

The inviting smile froze on her lips, dark eyes hardening. "If I leave now, I'm not coming back."

"Drive safe then." There didn't seem to be much else to say. Jackie deserved better than that, but he had a feeling they wouldn't be staying too much longer in town anyway. Plus, he had to find Cassie before it got too late. God her face when she'd left the room… he should have gone after her. Now he'd have to hunt her down to make sure she didn't do anything stupid.

They dressed in silence, and Jackie left without a backward glance. Nick sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands to clear his mind. There was still too much to think about, and he put it off until he knew Cassie was safe and sound. There would be plenty of time to rake himself over the coals for his behavior that night, and try to make sense of his conflicted thoughts.

Only he wasn't sure where to find Cassie. The small town wasn't exactly a thriving metropolis one could get lost in, but neither did it have the sort of clubs he knew she'd been drawn to when they all lived together before. So where would she go? It wasn't like she could drink in any of the bars; no one would serve a seventeen year old. Without his truck it was bound to be a long night. He only hoped she hadn't decided to keep on driving once she'd gotten to the open road. Christ, what would he do if she never came back? Nick didn't even have a cell phone number to try and get a hold of her that way.

Still, apart from covering the town block by block, Nick didn't know where else to try. He had just left Callahan's with no luck, when his phone rang. "Cassie?" he answered, not recognizing the number.

"Hey Nick, it's Hank."

Hank from Hank's Road House, it wasn't a place he frequented often, Nick liked to do his drinking alone. "Hey Hank, something I can help you with?" Inside he already knew, and changed his direction.

"Yeah, I just thought you should know, your lady friend's down here and… well I think maybe you'd best come and get her."

His lady friend… so much for the sister cover story, but Nick wasn't upset to hear that, Cassie wasn't his sister by any means. He was more worried about what she was doing in a rough place like that in the first place. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine; you ain't got to worry like that. It's just… she's…" Whatever it was, Hank was clearly unwilling to say it over the phone.

"Alright I'll be right down, thanks for calling, Hank."

"You got it, buddy. And Nick? You'd better hurry."

Shoving his phone away, Nick picked up the pace, heading into a dead run as a feeling of dread settled over him at those final words. If she was fine, why the need for him to hurry? His imagination ran rampant, picturing Cassie in all manner of predicaments ranging from getting hit on by every guy in the bar to her picking a fight with the biggest guy in there; either were equally possible. When he got to the road house, Nick nearly barreled into two friends from work, but he didn't stop to chat, sucking in a greedy breath as he entered the smoky bar. It took him a minute to pick her out, but eventually he spotted her, hunched over a drink at the far end of the bar. Nick frowned as he watched her toss back a shot of something, her delicate features wrinkling with distaste before she followed it with a beer chaser. What the hell was she thinking? And what the hell was Hank doing serving her?

"Oh good, you're here," the owner approached, relief spelled out on his features.

"Yeah, what's the trouble?" Nick asked, curbing the instinct to blister his ear about serving minors. She'd probably shown him proof of age, come to think of it. "Did something happen to her?"

"No… she's just ah…" Hank shifted his weight from one foot to the other, "well, she's scaring away the paying customers is all."

"She's what?" Nick blinked, only then noticing that there was a wide cushion of space between her and the other bar patrons.

"A couple of the fellas offered to buy her a drink, nothing more than that, I swear," Hank added when Nick's frown deepened. "She started yelling up a storm, I never heard language like that before, especially coming from a pretty little lady like that. Well, then Deke got his dander up, you know how he gets…"

"And then what?" Nick prompted, for the life of him he couldn't imagine what she'd done to scare away big, drinking men from her corner of the room.

"So, she leans into him all smiles, apologizing and the like for yelling at him. Next thing you know she presses one of them taser things into his nethers, and poor Deke had to be dragged outta here in a puddle of piss."

Nick's eyes widened, his head swiveling back to the petite blonde. "I guess that would do it," he muttered.

"One of the guys from the plant said she was your gal, so I figured you might want to come collect her, but I can call the sheriff if you'd rather not get near her."

"No, I'll take care of it, thanks for calling." Nick offered with a rueful grin. Apparently Cassie was holding out on him with regards to her personal armaments. "Look, I'm sorry about that, Hank. The next round for the boys is on me. And tell Deke… shit, the next two rounds for Deke are on me, okay?" Fishing out a wad of bills, he tossed it onto the bar.

"Is she really your gal?" There as a little bit of awe mixed in with Hank's tone as he looked at the petite blonde with the big temper.

"Yeah, I guess she is," Nick's lips twitched into a half smile. "What can I say, buddy, I like to live dangerously." Very aware that she was a formidable adversary, he approached her cautiously. "Hey, what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" he tried for a smile.

Cassie looked up blearily, her eyes narrowing into slits once she recognized him. "That was fast," she scowled. "You know a girl likes a man who knows how to take his time."

He knew what she meant, but it wasn't the best time or place to get into what he had and hadn't done that night. "How about you give me the taser and we'll go home and talk about it?"

"No thanks, I'd rather let the place air out a bit first, you know?"

"Listen, Cassie, about that…"

"I need another drink!" she pounded the counter in front of her, and Hank approached cautiously, a shot in one hand and a mug of beer in the other.

"Hey, the hell you do," Nick frowned, Moving the shot out of her fingers' reach as she grabbed for it. "You shouldn't be drinking at all at your age."

"Oh my age, my age…" she flung her arms up dramatically. "It's always about my age for you, isn't it?"

"Cass…" All eyes were on them, and he flashed Hank a nervous smile.

"You know what? Maybe you're right? I was stupid to think you'd see anything other than what you always do. _I'm_ the Watcher, I'm the one who has to See. Do you know what that's like, by the way? Having to Watch you get it on with the girl of the week? You know, for such a prude, you're kind of a slut."

Nick's face darkened in embarrassment and not a small amount of guilt at the thought that she'd been privy to those private moments. "Okay, that's enough. We're going home," he reached for her elbow but she shrugged off his grip.

"I don't have a home."

"It might not feel like it right now, but you do. You'll always have a home with me." He meant that from the bottom of his heart, he didn't even want to think about her leaving so soon after walking back into his life again.

Cassie started to giggle at that, laughing until she was red faced and tears ran down her cheeks. Unsure what else to do, Nick wrapped his arm around her and hauled her close, prepared to carry her out the door. Instead of resisting, she clung to him, and he flashed Hank another apologetic look, stopping to down the untouched shot on the counter before walking her out the door.

She was silent on the ride home, and Nick thought she might have passed out, but Cassie was awake enough to shove away his attempts to help her from the truck and into the motel room. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she tossed her bag to the floor and stripped off her t-shirt, flinging it across the room as she stumbled towards the bed. "Did you change the sheets?" she peered at them critically before changing her mind. "Actually, forget that, I think I'd rather take the chair for the night."

Nick followed behind, picking up her discarded items and watching her uncomfortably while trying not to stare at her in the bright pink bra, fearing what she might do next. "Cassie, I think you're assuming a little too much about what went on here tonight," he tried to explain, but she didn't want to listen.

"Oh come on, Nick, I saw her. I'll bet she was on you within thirty seconds of my leaving, wasn't she?" When he couldn't meet her eyes, she took that as a confirmation. "I guess that's what you like huh? That's what all guys like. I should get myself some fuck-me pumps and a lobotomy, then I'd have you eating out of the palm of my hand." she lurched to one side as she tugged at her boot, nearly falling over and Nick rushed to catch her. "I'd have you right where I wanted you, wouldn't I?" she blinked up at him.

"No, you wouldn't. That's my point entirely." She didn't need any of that to attract him; that was the problem. Not only was it a disturbing image to think of her trying to dress like Jackie to attract any man, it hurt him to the core to think that was the message he'd given her on how she needed to behave, Cassie was so much more than that.

"No, I guess I wouldn't." Her clear blue eyes shimmered and blurred with tears and he caught hold of her shoulders, forcing her to look at him.

"Cassie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing, look at you… what's got you so upset?" She did tend to get maudlin when drunk, but he couldn't shake the feeling it went much deeper than that.

"Nothing. I'm _nothing_ to you…" her voice broke, and it twisted his heart to see her in so much pain.

His words came back to haunt him, and Nick felt about an inch high for giving her that impression from a few stumbled words. "You're not nothing to me… Cassie, she caught me off guard and I wasn't prepared to explain what you were doing in my bed."

"Why couldn't you just tell her the truth?"

Nick stared at her, at a loss for words. Maybe because he didn't know what the truth was anymore. "I didn't sleep with her," slipped out unplanned, and he wasn't sure why it was so important to him for her to know that.

"I know, you didn't even let her stay to cuddle for a while," her eyes narrowed.

"No, I mean, I didn't have sex with her."

"Yeah right," she snorted, twisting out of his grip, she flopped down heavily into the chair to wrestle with her boots.

"Cass… I couldn't."

"They say it happens to every man. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be up and at 'em in no time," she looked up with a crooked grin and he shook his head in annoyance as she blew right past the point.

"No, that's not… Cassie, I'm trying to tell you…" what was he trying to tell her?

"Don't worry Nick; I won't cramp your style next time. A man's got needs, I get it. Let's just make sure to come up with a signal or something, okay? The next time you want to hook up let me know so I can make myself scarce ahead of time, then I won't spoil your mojo." Giving up on the boots, she leaned back in the chair, her eyes closing.

"Cassie…"

"It doesn't matter anyway, I was stupid to think things might change," she sighed, her voice starting to fade. "So stupid…"

Nick stared down at her helplessly, wondering if he was reading too much into her drunken ramblings. Carefully scooping her up into his arms, he laid her out on the bed, gently rolling her onto her stomach in case she got sick while he pulled off her boots. He briefly thought about trying to get some more clothes onto her, but settled for covering her up with the blankets. As he brushed the hair away from her face, his fingers traced the graceful slope of her neck, stopping at the delicate tattoo he found. How had he missed seeing that before? The tiny lotus blossom lay where the shoulder met the neck, and his eyes dropped to the inside of his own arm, where an identical tattoo marked his flesh. How could that be a coincidence?

His thoughts flashed back to the day he'd gotten the tattoo on the sensitive skin inside his elbow. "It'll hurt like a sonofabitch," the guy had warned him, "and it could fuck with your arm being this close to the vein."

"Yeah well, I'd give my right arm to get her back, so…" He'd been thinking of Cassie that day, not long after they'd dropped her off with the foster family. The little lotus flower was a constant reminder of the day she'd given him the flower in the temple. The day he'd promised to help her, and his life had become irretrievably entwined with hers. It was that close relationship that had bothered Kira so much, made her push to make him choose her over Cassie for once, and he'd done it, to his shame.

His fingers brushed over her skin, tracing the edges of the design. Could it be possible she'd Seen it? What else had Cassie Seen? Curious, he left her on the bed to retrieve her sketchbook, flipping backward through the pages to try and gain some insight into what her life had been like without him. The disjointed images were difficult to decipher, despite the fact that her talent at drawing had grown. It was simply impossible to understand them without context.

Until his own face looked back at him from the pages. Sketch after sketch, rendered in exquisite detail, down to the scar above his eye and the unshaven stubble of his beard, he saw his life captured before him in bits and pieces. The others around him were done hastily, with the suggestion of features and surroundings, but he was always drawn to perfection with the utmost care, as though she'd gone back to add to his image over and over again.

Still holding the sketch book, Nick returned to the bed, stretching out beside her as he tried to gain insight into her head. Eventually he succumbed to fatigue, and in sleep, he wrapped an arm around Cassie's midsection, pulling her closer into the shelter of his embrace. Oblivious to the intimate position, he buried his face in her hair and dreamt of a different world.

**A/N: Drunk Cassie was too much fun to write, I had to give her a reason to turn to drink, poor girl. Nick really is an idiot sometimes, isn't he? **

**Feedback is love.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Yay I'm getting more reviews! I know there are just a few of us compared to some of my other readers, but I'm glad you're liking this story, because it's been keeping me from working on my new book, so I'm glad it's not in vain.**

_Nick stared down at her helplessly, wondering if he was reading too much into her drunken ramblings. Carefully scooping her up into his arms, he laid her out on the bed, gently rolling her onto her stomach in case she got sick while he pulled off her boots. He briefly thought about trying to get some more clothes onto her, but settled for covering her up with the blankets. As he brushed the hair away from her face, his fingers traced the graceful slope of her neck, stopping at the delicate tattoo he found. How had he missed seeing that before? The tiny lotus blossom lay where the shoulder met the neck, and his eyes dropped to the inside of his own arm, where an identical tattoo marked his flesh. How could that be a coincidence? _

_His thoughts flashed back to the day he'd gotten the tattoo on the sensitive skin inside his elbow. "It'll hurt like a sonofabitch," the guy had warned him, "and it could fuck with your arm being this close to the vein."_

"_Yeah well, I'd give my right arm to get her back, so…" He'd been thinking of Cassie that day, not long after they'd dropped her off with the foster family. The little lotus flower was a constant reminder of the day she'd given him the flower in the temple. The day he'd promised to help her, and his life had become irretrievably entwined with hers. It was that close relationship that had bothered Kira so much, made her push to make him choose her over Cassie for once, and he'd done it, to his shame. _

_His fingers brushed over her skin, tracing the edges of the design. Could it be possible she'd Seen it? What else had Cassie Seen? Curious, he left her on the bed to retrieve her sketchbook, flipping backward through the pages to try and gain some insight into what her life had been like without him. The disjointed images were difficult to decipher, despite the fact that her talent at drawing had grown. It was simply impossible to understand them without context. _

_Until his own face looked back at him from the pages. Sketch after sketch, rendered in exquisite detail, down to the scar above his eye and the unshaven stubble of his beard, he saw his life captured before him in bits and pieces. The others around him were done hastily, with the suggestion of features and surroundings, but he was always drawn to perfection with the utmost care, as though she'd gone back to add to his image over and over again. _

_Still holding the sketch book, Nick returned to the bed, stretching out beside her as he tried to gain insight into her head. Eventually he succumbed to fatigue, and in sleep, he wrapped an arm around Cassie's midsection, pulling her closer into the shelter of his embrace. Oblivious to the intimate position, he buried his face in her hair and dreamt of a different world. _

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

Just before dawn, I shifted in my sleep, freezing when I found a heavy arm wrapped around my belly and a soft snore stirring the hairs at the back of my neck. It wasn't the first time I'd woken like that, but it was the first time in a long while that I couldn't actually recall the events that led up to it.

I noticed straight away that my shirt was off, and it was Nick's arm wrapped around me in his bed. Good God, had I slept through the night I'd been waiting for? It came back to me then in bits and pieces, Jackie and the trough of alcohol I'd tried to bury my head in. Nick bringing me back to the room, nothing romantic there… In fact, had he admitted to impotence? Poor thing, no wonder he'd been so upset...

There wasn't much more to remember after that, and the warm Nick cocoon I found myself in soon lulled me back into a drowsy state. Over and over I replayed the scene in my head, of Nick's face as he'd leaned in, my imagination supplying the kiss I'd been robbed of by Jackie's arrival. I settled back to sleep, ignoring the fact that I was settling for whatever crumbs of affection Nick decided to toss my way, it felt too good to be held by him, even if it was unconsciously done.

Too bad the fates decided even that tiny shred of comfort was too good to last, and I was struck by a real vision that time, the images sharp and distinct in the way that only alcohol facilitated. My breath came in painful hitches as my body jerked with each new image. The bright burst of my own blood exploded through my mouth as I bit my tongue in the process, drawing a whimper from me despite my best efforts to keep it all in.

I hadn't had a vision like that in a long time, Division's interest in me having faded over the years beyond surveillance, but I saw them now, not just their actions but their intent.

Division was coming for us.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

Nick gradually became aware that he was snuggled up against a woman, her soft form pressed against him, and he smiled against her hair in the darkness, his brain not supplying the full details of the situation. His thumb lazily stroked the bare skin beneath her breast, feeling the rise and fall of her chest.

It was wrong, it was all wrong.

Instead of resting comfortably, her breath came in little painful bursts, and her body trembled like a leaf on the wind. All at once it came back to him, who he was in bed with and the little mewling sounds of discomfort she was making sent his adrenaline into overdrive. Nick's eyes popped open and he immediately withdrew his arm, thinking he was the cause of her distress and she was too upset to move him. "I'm sorry, I didn't try anything, I swear."

When she didn't respond, he shook her shoulder, pulling her towards him when she continued to quake. "Cassie?" The all too familiar look on her face let him know she was deep in the throes of a vision, at least… he hoped she wasn't faking this time, or he'd wring her pretty neck.

"They're coming," she panted, her body going slack as the vision passed.

"Who's coming, Cass?"

"Division. They're coming for us now. The Sniffs are already there, they found the case, we have to go…" her voice sounded impossibly weak, and a light press at the shoulders from Nick was all it took to keep her lying down.

"Cassie, it's okay. Let them have it, the syringe isn't in the case anymore."

Eyes still wide with panic, she struggled to break free of his light hold. "They can track you with it, don't you see? We don't want to be here when they get here, we need to leave, right now."

"Alright, okay, we'll go," Nick relented, fighting the urge to try and comfort her and letting her go instead. "Let me get a few things packed up and then we'll figure out where we're gonna go." He didn't for a moment question that they'd stick together.

"No, Nick. Now," she insisted, searching for her t-shirt and pulling it over her head even as she stepped into her boots. "We'll buy new things, we gotta go now."

Nick's brow puckered in confusion, not sure where the urgency was coming from. "If they're where I left the case, they're not right outside our door, we have time to pack. We even have time to plan."

That brought her up short, some of the panic fading from her eyes, but he could tell she was still agitated. "Okay, but hurry… I don't want to be anywhere near here when they arrive."

"Don't worry, I won't let anything bad happen, I promise."

"You can't promise that, you didn't See…"

"Cassie look at me," Nick dropped the duffel he'd pulled out from under the bed, tipping up her face by the chin so she was forced to stop and look at him. "I won't let anyone hurt you. Do you believe me?" It killed him to see the hesitation in her eyes, but slowly she nodded and he found his smile. "Come on, it'll be just like old times. Last one packed up's a rotten egg." Rewarded by the slight twitch of her lips into what might have been a smile, Nick let go of her when she predictably rolled her eyes and the moment of panic passed.

She won by a landslide, only having a single bag to pack, and spent her time stripping the bed and liberally dousing the bedding, cups and silverware, garbage, everything they'd touched in the room with ammonia that she'd been hoarding in a kitchen cupboard for just such an emergency. It might not be enough to throw them off their tracks, but it was the best they could do.

In less than fifteen minutes they had all of their worldly possessions tossed into the back of the truck and were on the road pointed towards the highway. "So much for the normal life," Nick sighed, rolling his shoulders as he settled in for a long drive.

"I told you, we're not normal, I don't see why you keep expecting a normal life," Cassie murmured, sketchbook propped up on her knees as she drew.

Nick was silent for a few minutes, the point taken. "What did you See?" he asked finally.

"I don't want to talk about it, I'll show you when I'm done, okay?"

Deciding not to push, he simply nodded. "Okay." His fingers itched to pull out a cigarette, and he considered the idea that she might not even notice, she was so intent on the drawing, but in the end he decided to let it go. He should probably just quit anyway. "About last night," he tried again, thinking they needed to clear the air between them.

"Don't worry about it," she replied without looking up.

"I just think we should talk about it. Some things were said…"

"It's okay, Nick. I won't tell anyone or hold it against you, your secret's safe with me."

"What secret?" he frowned, wondering what the hell she was talking about.

"Exactly," she looked up with a lopsided smile, and he decided to drop it for the time being.

"Alright," he reached for a piece of gum to keep his mouth busy. "I'm gonna need to know what direction to head when we get to the highway. Any ideas on where we should go?"

Her pencil stilled as she considered that for a moment. "Where is the syringe?"

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"I'd rather have something to bargain with if they show up on our doorstep, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he allowed reluctantly, but for some reason, it felt like the wrong move to recover the syringe that had brought them nothing but trouble since Cassie'd first Seen it. "Can you at least tell me why now? After all this time, why is Division suddenly making a move?"

"It has to do with a race. There's a race to see who can duplicate the results first. Division hasn't been able to produce anyone as strong as Kira yet, but they did manufacture another serum from her blood that doesn't kill its test subjects. But the other clans, they want a piece of it too and they think they can make the original serum work. Division will do anything it takes to keep that from happening."

"You Saw all of that?" he blinked.

"No, that's what Kira told me when she came to see me," she replied in a small voice.

"Oh." That made more sense, she'd never gotten that much detail out of a vision before, but then again, Cassie had grown a lot since they'd parted ways. Nick couldn't help but wonder what role Kira had to play in any of it, and what her motivation was for bringing the two of them together again, especially given the bad feelings between the girls. "What else did she tell you?"

"God Nick, why do you even care? She used you, don't you get that? It wasn't love. You were convenient and a good fuck…"

"Don't talk like that," Nick growled, more ticked off that she'd misinterpreted the question than the actual use of bad language.

"Or what? Jesus, I'm not some little kid anymore, Nick. You can't threaten to wash my mouth out with soap."

"That doesn't mean I want to hear it. And I happen to know you're not a little kid, Cassie. Christ, that's all I can think about anymore," he muttered.

"Then how about you respect the fact that I'm mature for my age and treat me that way?"

"Like you talk to me with so much respect?"

"That's not my fault, you keep doing boneheaded things," she retorted, looking out the window at the sun rising in the distance.

He was about to protest that when the image of Jackie came floating back to the forefront of his memory and he decided to let it go. "Since when do you listen to anything I say anyway?" he shook his head.

"I always listen. I might not choose to do what you asked me to, but I always listen."

"Can't ask for more than that, I guess," he sighed, taking the freeway exit west.

"So where are we going?"

"San Antonio, that's where the syringe is hidden."

"At least it's in a city; I don't think I could take too much more of this cow pasture crap."

Cassie went back to her drawing and Nick spared her a look, glad she didn't seem to be harboring any lingering hostility from the night before. Maybe she did have the right of it; get drunk, vent and then move on. Nick on the other hand would keep stewing over things said and left unsaid, and the almost kiss between them.

* * *

><p>It was amazing how quickly being on the run came back to him. The subtle checks to see if they were being followed, the search for a cheap, nondescript motel that wouldn't ask too many questions or ask for credit cards, and had an alley exit or at least a fire escape for a quick getaway. At least he didn't have to hunch down to try and blend in with the locals, there were plenty of men there close to his six foot height.<p>

Cassie immediately perked up the moment they stashed the truck and took to the crowded sidewalks, her shorter legs moving twice as fast to keep ahead of Nick as they scouted out prospective places to crash. Conversely Nick soured during the check in process at a little mom and pop owned motel, the transaction mostly conducted in rapid fire Spanish.

"What's the matter?" Cassie asked as soon as they got their key and were on their way up the stairs to their room on the second floor. It was late, but there were lights coming from at least half a dozen rooms in the building.

"Nothing."

"Then why are you all grumpycakes? Did the guy say something to you?"

"No, it wasn't anything he said," Nick's jaw worked as he got the door open. The room was small and shabby but clean. But they hadn't had any double rooms and the solitary bed meant he'd be spending the night in the chair again. This one looked less comfortable than the one in the last room.

"When did you learn to speak Spanish anyway?"

The question had him shaking his head. "You should try learning a new language sometime; it makes things a lot easier." She'd never even tried to learn Cantonese, Spanish or the language of any country they'd stayed in.

"What's the point? Everywhere you go people speak English," she shrugged, unconcerned. "Seriously though, if the guy didn't say anything to you, what's the problem?"

"It wasn't what he said; it was what he was thinking."

"So now you're a Reader?" Cassie went to the window, forcing the worn casing open with difficulty.

"He thinks we're together."

"We are together," she shrugged, unconcerned.

"No, I mean _together_," he looked at her until he saw comprehension dawn on her pretty features, immediately followed by the requisite eye roll.

"Nobody cares Nick. They're all too wrapped up in their own shit. Besides, the only way someone's gonna find out I'm under eighteen is if you tell them. I've been told I can pass for twenty-one."

"In dog years maybe," he scoffed, getting a little bit of amusement out of her affronted expression. "Look, I don't like people thinking I'm taking advantage of you," he tried to explain, anything to take away the hurt puppy look that replaced the outrage.

"Maybe I wouldn't mind you taking advantage of me sometime, did you ever think of that?" Cassie came away from the window, giving him one last look over her shoulder before she disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Nick staring after her, dumbfounded.

* * *

><p>Hours later, Cassie lay on the bed while Nick shifted uncomfortably on the chair, trying to find a good position that allowed him to sleep more than a few minutes at a time. It was his own fault, he supposed, that he wasn't curled up beside her. If he could take Cassie at her word, she wouldn't have minded sharing the bed with him, but was that such a good idea? She was only seventeen years old, how was she supposed to know what she wanted? It was his responsibility to watch out for her, not take advantage of a crush.<p>

Cassie shifted in her sleep, a soft sigh escaping as she lay dreaming, and Nick's eyes immediately went to her lithe form. Once more she'd kicked the covers aside, her bare limbs bathed in moonlight thanks to the patchy blinds hanging at the window. The oversized t-shirt she'd borrowed from him covered the top part of her body well enough, but had ridden up, exposing the perfect curve of her ass, barely clad in filmy lace.

She made another sound, this one deeper, and Nick sat higher, wondering if she was having a bad dream. Should he wake her? Before he could decide, she rolled onto her back, chin pointed to the sky as her lips parted in another sigh… and all at once it hit him… she wasn't having a bad dream, she was having a very, very good one. Feeling like a voyeur, nevertheless Nick wasn't able to tear his eyes from her while her breath came in stops and starts, chest rising and falling as she welcomed the attentions of her dream lover.

He had just about decided to try and reach for his mp3 player to try and drown out her soft cries and afford her a little bit of privacy, when his name spilled from her lips, and his mouth went dry. Nick froze, his heart beating so loud he was sure she'd hear it. She was dreaming about him? For long moments he stared, his breath unconsciously mirroring hers as dream Nick made her shiver with delight.

God he wanted to reach out and touch her… Stretch out beside her and taste those parted lips that tempted him to the edge of sanity. _"Maybe I wouldn't mind you taking advantage of me sometime, did you ever think of that?"_ Her words haunted him, teasing him with every beat of his heart, urging him to give in to what they both wanted. Did she mean that? Did it matter?

Almost of its own volition, his hand stretched out towards her, the tiniest flicker of his fingers and he brushed the hair away from her neck with his power to reveal the smooth column of her throat. _God, what was he doing…?_ Unable to resist, he sent the ghost of a touch down the side of her arm, rewarded by her soft sigh of pleasure that sent a corresponding jolt of desire through him. He knew it was wrong, but Nick couldn't help himself. Cassie's ragged breaths told him that she was close, so very close to reaching that sweet oblivion, and he couldn't deny her that pleasure when her life was so full of pain. With the lightest of touches, Nick let his power do what he could not, supplementing the images of him in her mind, he brought Cassie to a shuddering peak, his hands gripping the arms of the chair tightly when her head turned to gasp into the pillow and she rocked herself back to sleep in a haze of pleasure.

Cassie settled down with a blissful sigh, but Nick sat rigid in his chair, his entire body hard and throbbing as he fought the desire to touch her for real. What would it feel like to brush his fingers against her silky skin? To kiss the sweet spot behind her ear, and feel the throb of her pulse? To bury himself inside her warm, willing body… Guilt flooded him for even thinking such thoughts and taking advantage of her without her consent. Even if she'd said she wouldn't mind, that didn't make it right.

It wasn't just lust or desire though. The more he thought it through, the more Nick realized he loved everything about Cassie, from the brave strength he saw in her soul, to her goofy sense of humor, even the awful sulky moods and her fits of temper that made him want to punch a hole in the wall sometimes. Somehow or other she'd always had him wrapped around her little finger and it had driven Kira nuts. He'd just never been able to see it for what it was. He had always loved her with part of his heart, but now… now Cassie was damn near irresistible. The worst part was that he didn't even _want_ to resist.

Sheer determination alone gave him the strength to look away and try to get his traitorous body under control. But as the minutes ticked by, he knew he wouldn't get any more sleep that night. His thoughts kept turning back to the way his name had sounded on her lips, the little catch in her breath at his touch, even if it was a remote touch, and the final flush of pleasure that swept through her. More than anything he wanted to be the one to share that with her when she was conscious and willing, but Nick knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he gave into that desire for now. So instead he hauled himself to his feet and sought the relative privacy and relief of a shower to get his body to stop clamoring for her touch. By his calculations, he still had six months to go before Cassie turned eighteen, and he was determined not to act on his feelings until she got there, even if it killed him.

And it just might.

**A/N: So… what did you think? Hot or just a little creepy? Poor Nick, once Cassie keys into the fact that he's definitely looking at her in a new light, I don't think she's going to make waiting very easy on him… I'm just saying.**

**Feedback is love.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Wow… I can hear the crickets chirping… Okay, so I guess you guys didn't like the last chapter, only got a single review. I admit it's given me a little pause where to go next with this one. Hopefully you'll like this one better.**

_Almost of its own volition, his hand stretched out towards her, the tiniest flicker of his fingers and he brushed the hair away from her neck with his power to reveal the smooth column of her throat. God, what was he doing…? Unable to resist, he sent the ghost of a touch down the side of her arm, rewarded by her soft sigh of pleasure that sent a corresponding jolt of desire through him. He knew it was wrong, but Nick couldn't help himself. Cassie's ragged breaths told him that she was close, so very close to reaching that sweet oblivion, and he couldn't deny her that pleasure when her life was so full of pain. With the lightest of touches, Nick let his power do what he could not, supplementing the images of him in her mind, he brought Cassie to a shuddering peak, his hands gripping the arms of the chair tightly when her head turned to gasp into the pillow as she rocked herself back to sleep in a haze of pleasure. _

_Cassie settled down with a blissful sigh, but Nick sat rigid in his chair, his entire body hard and throbbing as he fought the desire to touch her for real. What would it feel like to brush his fingers against her silky skin? To kiss the sweet spot behind her ear, and feel the throb of her pulse? To bury himself inside her warm, willing body… Guilt flooded him for even thinking such thoughts and taking advantage of her without her consent. Even if she'd said she wouldn't mind, that didn't make it right. _

_It wasn't just lust or desire though. The more he thought it through, the more Nick realized he loved everything about Cassie, from the brave strength he saw in her soul, to her goofy sense of humor, even the awful sulky moods and her fits of temper that made him want to punch a hole in the wall sometimes. Somehow or other she'd always had him wrapped around her little finger and it had driven Kira nuts. He'd just never been able to see it for what it was. He had always loved her with part of his heart, but now… now Cassie was damn near irresistible. The worst part was that he didn't even want to resist. _

_Sheer determination alone gave him the strength to look away and try to get his traitorous body under control. But as the minutes ticked by, he knew he wouldn't get any more sleep that night. His thoughts kept turning back to the way his name had sounded on her lips, the little catch in her breath at his touch, even if it was a remote touch, and the final flush of pleasure that swept through her. More than anything he wanted to be the one to share that with her when she was conscious and willing, but Nick knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he gave in to that desire for now. So instead he hauled himself to his feet and sought the relative privacy and relief of a shower to get his body to stop clamoring for her touch. By his calculations, he still had six months to go before Cassie turned eighteen, and he was determined not to act on his feelings until she got there, even if it killed him. _

_And it just might._

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you're in surround sound, Technicolor, sensory overload and everything feels and tastes and smells like the real thing? Take your best memory of that dream and multiply it by ten, that's how good I felt as I gradually slipped out of dreamland and into reality. As soon as I realized I was sliding back into the real world I tried to chase after that dream, preferring the memory of Nick snuggled up beside me to the cold reality of waking up in my bed alone. Only the discovery that I was alone in the room was enough to make my eyes pop open.

The sound of the shower turning off killed the ribbon of fear that spread at the thought that Nick might have left while I was asleep. A quick glance at the clock showed it was still way too early to be up, especially given how late we'd gone to sleep. What the hell was he doing? So far I'd seen him more interested in catching a few winks than cleaning up. "Nick?" I knocked lightly on the bathroom door.

It opened with a jerk, Nick's head and bare shoulders filling the space. "What is it? Is something wrong?" His eyes swept over me as though he was searching for some sign of injury.

"No, I'm good." Better than good, I could definitely appreciate the sight of him with a towel hastily gathered about the waist. "I was just wondering why you're up so early. Is everything okay?"

"Oh," his shoulders relaxed, and he clutched the towel a little more firmly around his hips. "Yeah, no, I'm good. I was just… I couldn't sleep so…"

"I told you, you should have shared the bed with me," I sighed, my eyes narrowing at the indecipherable expression on his face. "I guess I'll hit the shower though if you're done, did you save me any hot water?" I started to move past him to get into the bathroom, and he jumped back a foot as though it might scald him if his skin touched mine. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I… just wanted to give you some privacy, that's all." His eyes dipped to my bare legs again and if I didn't know him better I would have thought he was _really_ looking.

"I'm not the one who's hung up on privacy, remember?" I offered my most inviting smile. "Are you sure you don't want to stick around and wash my back?"

Eager to escape, Nick brushed past me with a groan, and I stifled my urge to giggle. "Take your shower; I'm going to go get us something for breakfast."

"No wait, I want to go too. I wanted to try out that diner around the corner. I think they might be the only place open around here at this hour anyway."

"I think it's better if we stay out of sight as much as possible. Just tell me what you want and I'll pick it up to go and bring it back," he replied, unzipping his duffel.

Leaning against the door, I watched him pull on his boxerbriefs, sadly without dropping the towel until everything was covered. "In that case I'll take scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes, no… French toast."

"No waffles?" he smirked, tugging on a t-shirt and jeans, and it took me a second to realize he was sorta flirting back at me.

"No, I'll let you know when I'm in the mood for waffles," I replied, watching him speculatively as he slipped on his shoes and headed for the door. "Bring coffee though; it's gonna be a long day today."

Nick paused at the open door, his face changing to the more serious Nick I'd come to know and love. "Be safe," he admonished gravely.

"I'll be sure to be careful… in the shower," I couldn't help but roll my eyes over that one. What did he think would happen to me? He was the one going out in public.

"Good, I'd hate to have to barge in there and rescue you," he winked, slipping out the door.

God, he was acting weird. I couldn't say I didn't like it; it definitely kept me on my toes, which was hard for a guy to do. As I stepped into the shower it hit me, with the same brutal clarity as one of my visions. Holy crap… some time in the past couple of days something had changed for Nick. He'd realized I was a girl.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

Breakfast consumed, Nick laid out a map of the city on the bed, looking for the intersection in question. "I think it's right about here," he pointed, though he couldn't say with absolute certainty.

"Don't you know for sure?"

"Not from the map itself, but I'll know it when I see it." Hopefully not much would have changed by way of land marks in the past six months.

"That doesn't sound very precise," Cassie frowned, peering down at the map and Nick resisted the urge to brush her hair out of the way to keep from obstructing his view.

"It'll be fine, don't worry about it. I'm more worried about getting there." More than likely, it would be easy for Division to track down his vehicle registration, and even with all of the trucks driving around in Texas, they would eventually be spotted.

"So, steal a car," Cassie shrugged, as if that solved all of their problems.

"I'm not even going to get into why that's not a good idea," Nick frowned at her, not quite sure why it bothered him that her initial thoughts ran towards breaking the law. At one time he would have been the same.

"Are you kidding me? Since when did you develop scruples?" her brows rose in disbelief.

"I've been trying to go legit."

"Oh and using your abilities to scam people out of money is legit?" she scoffed.

"I had a real job until you showed up, remember?" Cassie fell silent then and Nick wished he could take it back. "I didn't mean it like that," he offered, but it didn't seem like enough from the look on her face.

"They would have come for you whether or not I was there to warn you, you know," her chin came up a little defensively.

"I know, I'm sorry," Nick nudged her shoulder with his. "Look, if I didn't say it before, I'm glad you came back." Her answering smile buoyed him more than it should have, and it was hard not to think how her face might have lit up if he'd said more. But that would lead to complications, and neither of them had time for that. The moment passed, and Nick drew his thoughts back to the pressing matters at hand. "Yeah, so about the truck, I had an idea…"

"Driving around in your truck seems like a bad one if they know it belongs to you. I still say we should ditch it and steal a new one," Cassie shrugged.

"Do _you_ know how to steal a car?" Nick raised a single brow.

"Well… No," she admitted.

"Exactly, just leave it to me; I'll take care of it." He already had a plan of action, and given their current neighborhood, it shouldn't be too hard to carry out.

"If you say so," Cassie replied dubiously. "I think we should talk about what happens after we pick up the syringe though. Once it's in hand there will be a score of Watchers out there that pick it up. We want to be long gone before they place us here in the City."

"I've been thinking about that." Nick folded the map up, tucking it into the side pocket of his pack. "Are you ready to show me what you Saw now?" He'd been thinking about the visions off and on since they'd left the roadside motel. Given how freaked out she'd been, they had to be bad. If they were going to be walking into trouble, he'd rather be prepared.

Cassie grabbed the strap on her bag, pulling out her sketch book, but instead of opening it up, she hugged it to her middle. "Most of it doesn't apply anymore."

"Can I see them anyway?" Scooting closer, he gave her a smile designed to shake that worried look from her face. "I already know you're a crappy artist, you don't have to get all self-conscious about them around me," he teased, but she didn't so much as crack a smile.

"I'd rather you didn't, they're pretty violent," she insisted stubbornly, her eyes downcast.

"Hey, I want to see what you did." Reaching out, he laid his hand over hers, and after a moment's hesitation, she let him take the book. Flipping to the end, the pictures showed a particularly grisly scenario. Nick and Cassie both, huddled together, faces contorted in agony as they tried to block their ears against the pain of the Bleeders. Nick's hand outstretched to Move them away, and then Nick staring at his own arm in terror as the skin was torn from his flesh while Cassie wept on her knees.

"What is this?" Nick frowned, more than a little disturbed by the images. He'd never seen anything like it before. Sure he'd come up against his share of Bleeders and Movers, and his own power had grown so that most weren't a threat to him anymore. But this… this was new.

"They came in the night, when we were sleeping. At first it was just a regular Bleeder, but after you knocked him unconscious another one stepped forward. This one," she pointed to a drawing of a slender teenaged boy, who had his own arm raised, mirroring Nick's gesture. "This one was special. He flayed the skin from your body with a single motion."

"They can do that?"

"He can," she swallowed past a lump of emotion. "He tortured you while I watched; tearing off piece by piece, but you wouldn't tell them what they wanted to know," her voice broke off then, and he didn't need to look to know there were tears standing in her eyes.

"Christ… no wonder you were spooked," he breathed, his own stomach knotting with dread until he realized she was even more freaked out now at reliving the visions. "Hey, come here." Nick gathered her into his embrace, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head when she wrapped her arms around him. "It didn't happen, okay? I'm fine. At least now we know what we're up against." For long seconds, he held her in his arms, rocking her gently, until he felt her start to relax. But when she spoke, her words reminded him that they weren't out of the woods yet.

"They're still out there, you know. Looking for us and for the syringe. They won't rest until they have it back, or know it's destroyed."

His arms tightened around her protectively, he'd die before he let anything happen to her without thinking twice about it. "Maybe now we're finally in a position to strike a bargain."

Cassie pulled back to look up at him, a pucker of worry reappearing on her smooth brow. "What do you mean?"

"If they want it so badly, there's no reason we shouldn't get something out of it."

"Escaping with our lives sounds pretty good to me about now," she replied sourly.

"What about your mom?" Nick asked, and her face shuttered closed at that. She hadn't mentioned her once since her arrival and another level of dread tightened the knot in his stomach. "What happened to her, Cass?"

"I don't know," she admitted miserably. "I just know that I can't See her anymore. I used to at least be able to See her sitting there doped up or being moved from one facility to another. Just little flashes, enough to see she was still alive. But for the past two months…" Cassie shook her head, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"Hey…" Nick reached up to cup the side of her face, his thumb brushing away the tears. "Maybe they have her Shadowed? Did you think of that?"

"Why would they do that?"

"They're Division, there's always a reason behind what they do, they just don't share it with the rest of us. But we can find out."

"How would we do that?" she sniffed, unconsciously leaning into his touch. All at once her face changed as Cassie caught on to what he had in mind. "No Nick, we don't need her..."

"You remember what Kira said when she came to see you. She said it was time to stop living in the past and embrace the future. If we ever wanted a chance at a future, Division would welcome us, no questions asked, as long as we gave back the serum."

"You can't be serious, you want to join Division? But you said…"

Nick brushed his thumb over her lips, effectively ending the tirade as she stared back at him in surprise. "No, I don't want to join them, Cass. But they do owe us some answers. That's the least they can give us in exchange for the serum."

Catching hold of his hand, Cassie pulled it away from her face and held onto it in her lap. "How do you know they won't kill us once we give them what they want?"

"I don't." He picked up the picture that showed the flesh stripped off of his arm. "But what do we have to lose?"

* * *

><p>Out on the street, Nick felt particularly vulnerable once they retrieved the truck, and his eyes searched for just the right place to conduct the kind of business he had in mind. Pulling into the parking lot of a twenty-four hour Laundromat he drove right up to a group of guys shooting hoops in a makeshift backboard at the end of the lot.<p>

"What are we doing here, Nick?" Cassie murmured, as all eyes swung towards them, the rapid fire exchange in Spanish going right over her head.

"Take it easy, I've got it under control. Just stay in the truck for a minute, okay?" Nick flashed her an easy grin that changed to an accepting sigh as she immediately got out and joined him as he approached the guys. "Hey guys, playing a little b-ball?" he opened, getting little more than hostile stares in reply. Undeterred, he swallowed and moved on. "Hey, you like my car?" he asked of the group in general.

"It's a piece of shit," one of them replied, drawing laughter from the rest.

"Yeah, but it's got a little something left under the hood. What do you drive?" Nick replied with an easy smile.

"The brown one," he nodded, some of the smugness fading as all eyes turned to rest on the beat up old Chevy.

"Now that, is a piece of shit," Nick laughed, ignoring Cassie who smacked him in the abs, trying her hardest to get him to look at her. The guys were all watching him warily, but nobody had drawn any weapons, so Nick figured he was still good. "So… you want to trade?"

"Is it hot?" the guy sounded vaguely interested, and one of his friends left the pack to circle around Nick's truck, speculatively.

"Smokin'," Nick grinned, "but not around here. We got a deal?" He watched as the friend popped the hood to his truck, leaning over inside.

"Como se mira, Enrique?" the guy called out, and Enrique gave a single nod in reply. "Yeah, we got a deal."

"Great," Nick tossed him the keys and caught his new ones in return, flashing Cassie a triumphant grin. "Thanks, man. Good doing business with you."

"Just like that?" Cassie protested after watching the exchange in silence. "You don't need to swap registration or a bill of sale or anything?"

"Time to go, Cass." Nick didn't want to linger now that the transaction was completed.

"Oye, you want to trade anything else?" His eyes swept up and down the length of Cassie's body in frank appraisal and Nick wrapped a protective arm around her middle, hauling her up against him.

"You couldn't afford her," he grinned, hustling her out of there before anything went sour.

"This car isn't going to get us more than a hundred miles," Cassie frowned at him, as soon as they were on their way.

"It doesn't have to." He'd never intended for it to become a long term solution, just enough to get them around until their business in town was completed.

"No? Did you figure out where we're going after we pick up the syringe?"

"You tell me."

"I haven't had any other visions, Nick. I would have told you about them."

"I have an idea then." Nick couldn't help but smile at the puzzled look on her face. It felt good to be the one to have all the answers for once.

"Care to share it with the rest of the class?"

"How do you feel about trains?"

**A/N: So, what did you guys think? I see I am still getting people reading it, so let me know if you're still interested in me continuing with it.**

**I apologize, updates will be a little slower now, I've got to get started on my new book, Mercy for the Damned, due out this spring. But I do want to keep going with this one, I love Nick and Cassie together. **

**Feedback is love.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Thanks for the continued views and thanks for being patient for this chapter, the new book is coming along well, I have just about 18k words done. **

"_Time to go, Cass." Nick didn't want to linger now that the transaction was completed. _

"_Oye, you want to trade anything else?" His eyes swept up and down the length of Cassie's body in frank appraisal and Nick wrapped a protective arm around her middle, hauling her up against him._

"_You couldn't afford her," he grinned, hustling her out of there before anything went sour. _

"_This car isn't going to get us more than a hundred miles," Cassie frowned at him, as soon as they were on their way. _

"_It doesn't have to." He'd never intended for it to become a long term solution, just enough to get them around until their business in town was completed._

"_No? Did you figure out where we're going after we pick up the syringe?"_

"_You tell me." _

"_I haven't had any other visions, Nick. I would have told you about them."_

"_I have an idea then." Nick couldn't help but smile at the puzzled look on her face. It felt good to be the one to have all the answers for once._

"_Care to share it with the rest of the class?"_

"_How do you feel about trains?"_

* * *

><p>~Cassie ~<p>

I've always liked trains. I hate flying, they get you there fast, but there is way too much security involved with getting on the plane, and forget about taking any weapons with you. Buses are way too slow, and cars… let's just say I don't like to drive much because I never know when a vision might strike. But trains… they're fairly reliable, you don't have to mess with traffic, and it's still easy to blend in.

Nick got us a little compartment all to ourselves and we could stretch out in comfort without having to look over our shoulders all the time. After the settling in and we didn't need to keep our eyes on the window to see if we were being followed, I settled back to prop my feet up in his lap as we pulled away from the station.

"So, where are we going?"

"West," he replied, carefully moving my legs down on the seat beside him.

"I'm pretty sure we're headed North." Unless I was completely turned around, which was entirely possible.

"That's how we get west from here; we have to go north first."

"That makes total sense," I muttered. "So what's our final destination?"

"I think it's best if we play things by ear for now. The fewer plans we make the harder it'll be for a Watcher to track us."

So we were back to playing that game. I had to admit, I missed those days just a little, and Nick was very good at planning as I recalled. Secretly, I think he missed those cloak and dagger days a little too. "But you do have an actual end destination in mind?"

"I have a few ideas," he replied loftily. "For the moment let's just relax and try not to think too much about it."

"Okay." The decision to take the train had felt like a spur of the moment one, and I hadn't had a chance to pick up a book or a even a magazine. "Do you want to… go check out the train?"

"Not yet, we're gonna be here for a while, I want to save that for when I'm ready to stretch my legs."

"Oh, right." He looked tired, and I remembered he hadn't slept very well the night before. "Well, do you want me to leave you alone a bit so you can take a nap?"

"No, you don't have to do that. I'm still a little too wired to sleep yet." His hand landed on my foot to hold me in place and I was distracted by his warmth.

"Okay, what do you want to do?" My gaze dropped to his thumb that lazily stroked my ankle, but I don't think he even knew he was doing it. All too quickly he let go, and I tried my best to keep the disappointment from showing.

"Cards?" he withdrew a brand new pack from his jacket pocket, unwrapping the cellophane with a big smile.

"Cards," I sighed, slouching a little lower in my seat. It was gonna be a long trip.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

"Another hand?" Nick asked, gathering the cards to shuffle again.

"You already owe me sixty-three thousand dollars. You basically suck at cards," she teased, far too pleased with herself, so that he couldn't resist the dig.

"Maybe I'm just letting you win."

"Alright then, let's play for something else," she sat a little higher, winding her long, blonde hair up into a messy bun on top of her head.

"Like what?"

"Strip poker?" she waggled her eyebrows at him invitingly.

_Oh it was tempting…_ Maybe they'd been cooped up in the compartment for too long? "How about we get something to eat instead? The dining car should be serving by now." He thought he saw disappointment in her face, but acceptance soon followed.

"Yeah that's a good idea. You go ahead; I'll meet you up there."

"You're not coming?" Nick lingered by the door, watching her put the ridiculous boots back on.

"No, I'll catch up with you later."

He couldn't shake the idea that she was upset, even though she looked and sounded fine. "You're sure? Cause I can wait if you want me to."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll see you in the dining car soon. Go ahead," she shooed him towards the door.

"Yeah, okay. Just…"

"I know, be safe." A roll of the eyes was given.

Nick lingered in the dining car, first to order, and then eating slowly when Cassie didn't show up. While he knew there was a limited amount of danger she could get into on the train, he couldn't help but worry when she was out of his sight. Stopping at the snack bar, he picked up a few items for her in case she changed her mind and got hungry later before making his way back to their compartment. His instincts went into overdrive as the door opened, and an unfamiliar brunette stepped out.

"I made up your bed for you, Sir," she smiled, and Nick caught sight of her nametag.

"Oh right, thanks," he gave her a tight smile, feeling stupid for immediately suspecting the worst. He hadn't given much thought to the sleeping arrangements, but somehow he'd assumed that two bench seats would have turned into two small beds, not the full sized bed that took up nearly the entire compartment. Now how was he going to get any sleep?

Cassie came in just as he was unlacing his boots, lugging a rolling suitcase he'd never seen before.

"What's this?" he asked, watching her set it onto the bed.

"I needed something else to wear until we have some place to do laundry."

"I thought we talked about this…"

"We talked about not stealing a car; you didn't say anything about luggage."

"Cass…" Nick didn't want to start off with another lecture, especially since it seemed to go in one ear and out the other.

"What? I'm just going to take a few things out of it. At the end of the trip it'll be found and she'll get it back. It's not like I stole her purse. Which was sitting right there by the way."

Like that made it better. Her exact wording seemed a little off though. "You didn't take anything out of her purse?" he pressed. Cassie didn't answer and she didn't meet his eyes as she unlatched the case and dug through it with short, angry movements.

"This is how I live, okay? I'm rarely in one place long enough to make money the easy way, so this is what I do, taking just what I need to survive."

"You don't have to live like this."

"Do you have a better idea? Because I'd love to hear it, Nick. I'm off the grid for a reason, and short of stopping by Vegas to make a bundle of cash, I don't see another way out of this. Do you?" She was getting more and more agitated, and his hands came up in a supplicating gesture.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to come down on you so hard. You could have said something about the clothes; we could have picked you something up before he got on the train."

"Maybe I could have done that if you'd told me we were taking a train trip," she snapped, refusing to be mollified.

"It's just wrong, and you know it."

"Don't worry, I don't need you to tell me how much of a bad person you think I am, you've made that loud and clear." Cassie slammed the lid of the case down without taking anything out. "You know you never said shit when _she_ Pushed people into handing over cars, money, anything she wanted," she threw back in his face and Nick immediately stiffened.

"That was different."

"Why, because it was her that did it, and she can never do any wrong?"

"No, because I didn't…"

"What? Tell me Nick, how is that any different?" she demanded.

"I didn't know if I ever objected if she'd Push me back to get what she wanted, okay?" The admission felt a little like betrayal to his memory of Kira, but also to himself, because it meant that at some level he'd known the kind of person she was, and he'd chosen to keep quiet to stay with her.

"And you still loved someone who was capable of treating you like that?" Cassie shook her head in disbelief.

"Hey, Kira loved me."

"_I_ loved you. It didn't stop you from ditching me." The raw hurt shone from her eyes and Nick could see she was trying hard to keep it together.

"I told you, I wanted to do what was best for you," he had to look away.

"Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night," Cassie laughed bitterly. "You still picked her over me," she poked him in the chest, and he grabbed hold of her wrist, hauling her up close against him.

"I made a mistake. Like you've never made a mistake before?"

"What do you mean?" she struggled to pull free, but he kept a tight hold, making her look at him.

"I mean I screwed up, I shouldn't have let you go. You don't think I've regretted it? Wondered if my life would have been different with you?" All those what ifs, they'd been eating at him for over a year, and with her back in his life now… he could barely look at her without wondering where they'd be now if he'd made Kira leave instead. Cassie stared at him, too shocked to reply. _Shit, he shouldn't have said anything. _Letting go of her abruptly, he brushed past her for the door. "I need a smoke, I'll be back later."

"Nick, wait…" he heard her say, but he kept walking. He was dangerously close to breaking his promise to himself and pushing for more than she was ready to give, and that wasn't fair to her, Cassie had enough to deal with. Best to cool off, let the moment pass and let their easy friendship return.

It was late when he got back and the room was dark. Taking care to be quiet in the awkwardly small space, Nick pulled off his boots, deciding to sleep in his jeans and t-shirt for modesty's sake. There was no sign of the stolen suitcase and the parts of her he could see under the sheet showed Cassie wore one of his shirts to sleep in instead of stolen clothes. With a faint smile, he gingerly climbed into the bed beside her, pressing himself as far up against the wall as he could manage.

At the shift in the mattress, Cassie rolled over, snuggling up against him, and he froze. Debating whether it would be better to try to gently roll her back away, or if he should just try to slip out and find a seat in one of the regular cars to get any sleep, Nick gave up and wrapped an arm around her. He was too tired to fight against it, and her soft sigh of contentment against his shoulder felt too right. Too long without the release of deep sleep, Nick drifted off, finding peace for a few short hours.

* * *

><p>Nick woke up with a start, the combination of being startled out of a deep sleep coupled with the unfamiliar surroundings was disorienting at first. And then he figured out what else was wrong. Cassie was gone. Straining his ears, he tried to tell if she was just in the bathroom, but as the seconds stretched into minutes, he began to grasp that she was really gone. Christ… where could she have run off to, on a train?<p>

Maybe she'd gotten hungry? After all she'd skipped dinner and he hadn't mentioned bringing back any snacks for her. Or maybe he'd done something objectionable in his sleep? The last thing he remembered was having his arm wrapped around her, but maybe his hands had started to wander? Oh god… had she felt like she had to run away from him? Trying her cell, his call went straight to voicemail, further cementing his belief that something was wrong. The longer he lay there in the darkness, the more he felt like he had to find her.

Once the decision was made, Nick was galvanized into action. Starting with the club car, he made his way up and down the length of the train, his worry intensifying with each new car. That's when he got the idea that Cassie would be some place she knew she could be alone. Changing his direction, he headed down to the baggage car, his relief palpable when he spotted a flash of blonde hair among the suitcases.

"Jesus, what the hell are you doing down here, Cass? Do you know how worried I've been about you?"

"Yeah, like you care," she muttered sourly, refusing to look at him.

"We can't keep doing this every time we have an argument. I know I said some things before that might have upset you, but you can't take off every time you get mad. Cassie, look at me when I'm talking to you." She looked up, swiping at her tear stained cheeks and his heart twisted with guilt. "Christ… Cassie, I'm sorry. Whatever it was I said or did to make you this upset, I take it back, okay?"

"It's not what you did, stupid. It's what you're _going_ to do," she looked away again, a fresh bout of tears escaping.

"Wait… you're mad at me for something I haven't even done yet?" Nick blinked, his mindset rapidly shifting. Then she hadn't been that upset by what he'd said before? "It's a little early to be getting offended by it then, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you would say that," she snorted. "You don't know what it's like for me. I can't un-See it now."

Nick hunkered down beside her, trying to get her to look at him again. "What did I do that was so bad?"

"I saw you with her. After everything we've been through, after everything you said, it was all bullshit. She crooked her finger and you came panting after her like you always do." She looked at him then and he wished she hadn't, flinching from the menace in her gaze.

"You're talking about Kira?"

"It's always her!" Cassie yelled, pushing herself up on unsteady feet as the baggage gave way under her movement. "You might say you're glad to see me when it's just the two of us, but you sure blow me off pretty easy when we catch up to her again."

"Hey, don't get pissed at me for things I haven't done yet," Nick's brows drew together into a single dark line as he caught hold of her before she could run off again.

"I saw you, Nick. You clearly want to be with her again," she pushed against his shoulder, but he didn't let go.

"You also sometimes get things wrong," he reminded her gently, brushing away the trail of tears with his thumb. "It's true we do need to see her again for part of my plan, but I don't want Kira, not anymore."

"You don't?" she breathed, her eyes searching his face. "What do you want?"

Nick knew he had to let her go. It was the right thing to do; the smart thing. Instead he leaned down to brush his lips against hers, once… twice. Fully expecting her to either pull away in surprise, or respond with a child's chaste kiss, he was completely unprepared for the yielding softness of her mouth and the sweep of her tongue against his bottom lip, begging entrance. Nick's lips parted to taste her, the way he'd been wanting to for days, his hands sinking into her wealth of blonde hair as he bound her to him. On and on the kiss went, mouths seeking, breath mingling, as he lost himself in her uninhibited response.

Until he felt her fingers slip under his t-shirt to hook into his jeans, pulling him closer and he broke the kiss. _What was he doing?_ "I'm sorry," he pressed his forehead to hers.

"I'm not," Cassie reached up to stroke his cheek, and he caught her hand, his eyes pressing shut as he tried to get a hold of himself.

"This isn't right; I'm too old for you. You're not even eighteen for chrissakes."

"God you are such an idiot. Look at me," she pulled back, refusing to release him.

"I've been looking, that's the problem," he muttered in self loathing.

"No, don't look at my legs or my ass or my boobs. Look at _me_," she insisted, and Nick opened his eyes. "You know me, Nick. You more than anyone else in this world knows who I am and what I've been through. What we've been through together. Look at me and tell me I'm too young for you."

Nick looked up at her, his heart in his eyes as the words brought him physical pain to say, "I can't…"

**A/N: Oh how I love my cliffhangers… **

**Feedback is love.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Thanks again for the continued views and thanks for being patient for this chapter, the new book is coming along well, I have just about 40k words done, so about halfway there. **

"_I saw you, Nick. You clearly want to be with her again," she pushed against his shoulder, but he didn't let go. _

"_You also sometimes get things wrong," he reminded her gently, brushing away the trail of tears with his thumb. "It's true we do need to see her again for part of my plan, but I don't want Kira, not anymore."_

"_You don't?" she breathed, her eyes searching his face. "What do you want?"_

_Nick knew he had to let her go. It was the right thing to do; the smart thing. Instead he leaned down to brush his lips against hers, once… twice. Fully expecting her to either pull away in surprise, or respond with a child's chaste kiss, he was completely unprepared for the yielding softness of her mouth and the sweep of her tongue against his bottom lip, begging entrance. Nick's lips parted to taste her, the way he'd been wanting to for days, his hands sinking into her wealth of blonde hair as he bound her to him. On and on the kiss went, mouths seeking, breath mingling, as he lost himself in her uninhibited response. _

_Until he felt her fingers slip under his t-shirt to hook into his jeans, pulling him closer and he broke the kiss. What was he doing? "I'm sorry," he pressed his forehead to hers. _

"_I'm not," Cassie reached up to stroke his cheek, and he caught her hand, his eyes pressing shut as he tried to get a hold of himself. _

"_This isn't right; I'm too old for you. You're not even eighteen for chrissakes."_

"_God you are such an idiot. Look at me," she pulled back, refusing to release him._

"_I've been looking, that's the problem," he muttered in self loathing._

"_No, don't look at my legs or my ass or my boobs. Look at me," she insisted, and Nick opened his eyes. "You know me, Nick. You more than anyone else in this world knows who I am and what I've been through. What we've been through together. Look at me and tell me I'm too young for you."_

_Nick looked up at her, his heart in his eyes as the words brought him physical pain to say, "I can't…"_

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

I'll never forget that first real kiss from Nick. Going from one extreme of emotion to the next - I'd been about to hit him over my vision of him and Kira and then… it was like everything fell into slow motion as he leaned in to kiss me. My heart beat so fast I thought it might explode and I'd die before I got to kiss him back, but then we sank into the kiss and it was… perfection.

In the back of my mind I knew it couldn't last, so I did what I could to show him without words how much he meant to me. Even knowing it would end too soon, his apology for giving me what I wanted so badly cut me to the quick. One second I'd been flying, weightless and free, and the next… I felt his rejection like a slap in the face.

_God the tortured look on his face._ "You can't…" I repeated, at a loss for words in the face of his rebuff, and then it hit me… What had he said before about not being able to do it with Jackie back in Texas either? Did he mean…? Was Nick impotent? Christ, no wonder he got nervous when I reached for bare skin. And now he didn't know how to tell me… "Oh hey… Nick, it's okay. We can take things slow, right?"

"Take things slow?" he blinked, as if the thought never once occurred to him. Men… it's always an all or nothing thing with them.

"Yeah, there's no rush, I'm not going anywhere. Well, I mean we are going somewhere… together. Just… don't shut me out, not now." I didn't think I could take it if he pulled away completely after kissing me like that. It was like it was easier to ignore the fact that he didn't want me before when I was younger or he was with Kira, but now that I knew what I was missing… Now that I knew what it felt like to have him look at me like that…I wanted it more than I thought possible.

"I don't want to shut you out, Cass," he shook his head miserably, still torturing himself over it. "It's just you're so…"

I took pity on him, catching up his hand, I gave it a little squeeze. "How about we go back to the compartment and get some rest? It's been a helluva night and we still have another two days at least on the train, right? We don't have to sort everything out tonight."

"That's a good idea," he frowned, still wrestling with trying to figure out how to tell me about his problem, I imagined.

"Come on, how many times have you told me, things will look brighter after a good night's sleep?" I gave him my most winsome smile, relieved when he smiled back with that lopsided grin that made me go weak in the knees. As far as I was concerned, the biggest hurdle was getting him to want me in the first place. If there was a problem with his… little Nick, I could be patient. I'd already been waiting four years for a kiss; the rest would come in time. Now if I could just get the image of him and Kira out of my mind's eye…

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

Things would look brighter after a good night's sleep. That was assuming of course he'd be able to fall asleep after that scene in the baggage compartment. Maybe if they'd had a room with separate beds he might have stood a chance, but with the cramped quarters they had to share? All he could think about was that kiss, and the way she had felt so right in his arms.

Still, Cassie had been really cool about agreeing to take things slow. He'd expected more of a sulky pout or an argument. Maybe she really had grown up? Didn't they say girls matured faster than boys?

"You're lying there so loud you're keeping me awake," Cassie mumbled in the dark.

"Huh?"

"You keep shifting position and sighing. It's obvious you aren't getting any rest. What's the matter? Are you thinking about your little problem?"

"Oh, I'm sorry if I'm keeping you awake," he frowned, wondering what she meant by that 'little problem'. Hadn't they agreed to wait?

"Don't worry about it, but… no wonder you can't get comfortable pressed up against the wall like that. Why don't you scoot over some, are you afraid I'll bite you?"

"I… didn't want to crowd you."

"Stop being such a dumbass and get over here," she patted the mattress.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea…"

"I'm pretty sure I can control myself, Nick." He could practically hear her roll of the eyes in the dark. "Seriously, do you think I'm going to jump you? I said we can take things slow, now come over here," she patted again.

It wasn't her reaction he was nervous about; it was his crumbling resolve wherever she was concerned. But seeing as how he was keeping her from sleeping… Nick moved over a bit, more than a little disconcerted when Cassie immediately inserted herself under his arm, molding her body to his.

"There, that's more comfy, isn't it?" she sighed against his neck and he had to admit, she felt good in his arms. But still, sleep evaded him, he was still far too keyed up despite the late hour. Nick could feel that Cassie was still awake too, her fingers tracing little patterns on his t-shirt over and over again.

"Listen, I'm sorry about…"

"If you say you're sorry one more time I swear to God I'll hit you. For the last time, you are not taking advantage of me, Nick. Just relax, we're gonna get some rest, that's all."

"I'm sor…" Nick caught himself in time, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he felt her fingers fist into his t-shirt for a moment until he stopped the apology. Only her restless fingers didn't stop with the idle patterns on his shirt, they wandered to explore the neckline of his shirt, and then up to trace the sensitive skin behind his ear. Of their own volition, his fingers sank into her soft hair, awash in sensation over that simple touch. The cold tip of her nose brushed against his neck, and he felt her lips follow, the heat of her breath warming his skin.

"Cassie…" he sighed, breathing in the faint perfume of her hair. "We agreed to hold off on the physical stuff."

"Shh, you're having a bad dream, go back to sleep."

Nick felt the sting of her teeth on his earlobe and sucked in a breath. "More like a good dream," he groaned, head falling to one side to give her better access even as he told himself he had to make her stop. "Cassie, I'm serious, I can't…"

Cassie didn't stop the slow exploration of his skin with her delicate fingertips, finding her way up under his shirt to splay across the ridges of his abdomen. "I know. It's okay Nick, we don't have to do anything you don't want to do. We'll just take it slow."

"That's a guy's line, Cass. We both know what it means." If that was taking it slow, he'd have her on her back before the night was over. Or with as much initiative as she was taking, maybe she'd have him on his back… Nick spared a few lingering moments on that fantasy before he gently disengaged himself, rolling onto his side to face her. "When I say slow, I mean slower than this."

"There's nothing to worry about, really. I understand where you're coming from completely. There's other things we can do if you're not, um… ready to…" her eyes dipped, and he thought maybe she wasn't quite getting his point.

"Cassie, I didn't just mean I don't want to jump into bed with you. I meant it when I said I'm too old for you."

"I don't care. Doesn't that count for something?"

_God, she was making it hard…_ "I'm trying to do the right thing."

Her bright eyes met his in the darkness, and he felt the heat of her hand lying over his heart. "The right thing for who, Nick? For me? Because I've wanted this for longer than I care to admit to. For you? Because as near as I can tell its killing you not to touch me. For society? I'm pretty sure nobody gives a damn, and it's not like anyone's gonna turn you in to the cops. Like I said, there's plenty of other things we can do. Why won't you let me help you with your problem?"

There she went again. "What problem?" he shook his head in puzzlement.

"It's okay, you can admit it. It's really okay if you've got a problem with your…"

"My…" he waited for her to spell it out, 'cause he sure as hell couldn't guess what she referred to.

"With sex."

"I have a problem with sex?" he blinked, not quite sure he'd heard her correctly.

"See, don't you feel better for having said it out loud?" she smiled encouragingly, but Nick's brow furrowed in confusion.

"What problem do you think I have with sex?"

"The… not being able to have it kind?"

"You think I… you think I can't physically have sex with you?"

"Isn't that what you meant when you said you can't?"

Nick threw his head back and laughed, his whole body shaking with it as he realized they'd been talking about two very different things. Shifting position, he rolled Cassie onto her back, partially covering her with his body, pressing into her thigh with that part of him that left no doubt as to how much he wanted her. "Trust me, I'm more than capable." Gratified to see her eyes widen in surprise, he brushed his thumb across her parted lips. "In fact, it's taking everything I have to keep from doing something we might end up regretting later."

"Is that what you think?" Her head tilted to one side. "I'd never regret being with you."

It was nice to hear, but Nick couldn't quite bring himself to take her at her word just yet. "This is still a little new for me to get used to. That's why it's so important to make sure we don't rush into anything."

"Four years is hardly rushing things…"

"Give me a little bit of a break, will you? It's not like I even thought of you that way when we first met."

"Tell me about it," she sighed, head falling back on the pillow.

"Maybe it's stupid, but I can't get past that number in my head." It made him feel like he had no right to have these feelings for her, not yet.

"Do you seriously think I'm going to drastically change on my eighteenth birthday? That six months from now I'm going to wake up and realize I've been wasting my time on a stupid crush and I want to date guys my own age?"

That was exactly what he was afraid of, and Nick couldn't blame her if it happened. It was natural for her to have a crush on him, but it didn't mean those feelings would last, and he didn't want to take advantage of her inexperience. "It could happen. You might wake up and decide you could do better than an old guy like me."

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

"See, you're tired of me already," he grinned at her immediate roll of the eyes. "Trust me, it'll be worth the wait. For now, we just take things slow." Not an easy thing to do considering their current position, but Nick resisted the urge to kiss her again. Cassie however had other ideas.

"And if I don't want to wait?" Grinding her slender hips up against him; he bit back a groan at the small bloom of pleasure from that simple movement.

"Jesus, Cassie… you're killing me, you know that?"

"You're the one torturing us both," she smiled sweetly. "You're also the one who's still on top of me."

"Oh, sorry…"

"Not so fast…" Cassie held fast to him when he moved to roll off. "Don't I get a goodnight kiss? That's allowed, even on a first date. What could be more innocent than a goodnight kiss?"

"Somehow I think being in bed together takes some of the innocence out of it."

"Good." Leaning up, she brushed her lips against his, teasing him. Tempting him. Unable to resist, Nick took the offering, kissing her softly, almost reverently. The little sound of satisfaction she made in the back of her throat was almost his undoing, and he had to fight to keep his hands from roaming like they wanted to. Cassie was under no such restriction though, her hands wending their way under his shirt again to skim over the strong planes of his back.

There was a jerk as the train rolled to a stop, hard enough to break the kiss. Nick's head lifted to peer out the window. "That's weird. We're out in the middle of nowhere."

More interested in continuing the kiss, Cassie didn't bother to look. "Stuff gets stuck on the tracks all the time, trust me."

"Spent a lot of time riding the rails have you?" he smiled down at her, imagining the petite blonde perched in an empty box car, sketch book in hand.

"A fair amount, it's safer than driving for me."

"Maybe when this is over we can take a real vacation together? Just you and me, and no one chasing us?"

"Yeah? I think I…" All of a sudden her body went rigid, eyes staring sightlessly ahead as her face contorted with pain.

"Cass? What is it?" he knew without asking, but the question slipped out anyway as he scooted off of her, wishing like hell he could do something to make it easier for her.

"They're here…" she panted, trying to catch her breath. "We have to go, right now!

**A/N: I know, another cliffhanger. But at least I didn't leave them in the middle of a heart-wrenching conversation this time, right? **

**Feedback is love.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**I'm glad you guys are up for more plot. Lovey stuff with Nick and Cassie is fun, but we can't forget the world they live in is a dangerous one. **

"_Not so fast…" Cassie held fast to him when he moved to roll off. "Don't I get a goodnight kiss? That's allowed, even on a first date. What could be more innocent than a goodnight kiss?"_

"_Somehow I think being in bed together takes some of the innocence out of it."_

"_Good." Leaning up, she brushed her lips against his, teasing him. Tempting him. Unable to resist, Nick took the offering, kissing her softly, almost reverently. The little sound of satisfaction she made in the back of her throat was almost his undoing, and he had to fight to keep his hands from roaming like they wanted to. Cassie was under no such restriction though, her hands wending their way under his shirt again to skim over the strong planes of his back._

_There was a jerk as the train rolled to a stop, hard enough to break the kiss. Nick's head lifted to peer out the window. "That's weird. We're out in the middle of nowhere."_

_More interested in continuing the kiss, Cassie didn't bother to look. "Stuff gets stuck on the tracks all the time, trust me."_

"_Spent a lot of time riding the rails have you?" he smiled down at her, imagining the petite blonde perched in an empty box car, sketch book in hand. _

"_A fair amount, it's safer than driving for me."_

"_Maybe when this is over we can take a real vacation together? Just you and me, and no one chasing us?"_

"_Yeah? I think I…" All of a sudden her body went rigid, eyes staring sightlessly ahead as her face contorted with pain. _

"_Cass? What is it?" he knew without asking, but the question slipped out anyway as he scooted off of her, wishing like hell he could do something to make it easier for her. _

"_They're here…" she panted, trying to catch her breath. "We have to go, right now!_

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

Disjointed images competed for space in my mind's eye, making me lurch out of balance when I sat up. There was barely enough time to find our shoes and grab my bag, they were nearly upon us, I could feel it in my bones. "We have to go to the front of the train," I decided, throwing open the compartment door. Thankfully, the corridor was empty, and I took that as a good sign as I started forward.

"Why the front of the train?"

"Because the vision I had was at the rear, and we definitely don't want that happening." Now that we had the serum with us, there was no need for torture, Division could just take what they wanted and move on. But that wasn't what I'd Seen, not by a long shot.

"What did you See? Is it the ones you Saw in your last vision?" Nick was right behind me, his pack slung over one shoulder, gun held at the ready in his free hand.

"Yes, and I'll tell you all about it over some pancakes when we're safe and sound, but for now, less talking… more moving."

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

Of course it was Division after them; who else had the juice to bring an entire train to a stop on the say so of a Sniff or Watcher? There was little time to dwell on it though, the windows beside them exploded in a spray of glass as Division opened fire. Cassie screamed, instinctively dropping out of sight, but Nick immediately extended his power to cover her, the bullets doing little more than providing an interesting spray of color as they met with his shields.

"Come on!" Gathering her up by the elbows, he propelled her forward, knowing it was just a matter of time before their position was reported to the rest of the strike team. "We have to get off the train. We're sitting ducks up here and they don't seem to be all that picky about shooting innocent bystanders." Not that they'd ever been big on discretion in China, but he hadn't seen them move so openly in the States. They must be getting desperate; not a good sign at all.

Emboldened as soon as she realized she wasn't being pelted with bullets or glass, Cassie popped her head up to get a better look. "How do we do that? There's like ten guys out there with machine guns."

"Leave them to me, I can protect you," Nick replied confidently, even dropping a quick wink; anything to get that scared look off of her face.

"Don't get too cocky, all it takes is one bullet to make it through your shields and this is going to get real messy, real fast. We're flying blind out here in the middle of America's heartland. I have no idea where the nearest Stitch is."

"Then we'll just have to make sure we don't get hit," he grinned, blood pumping in anticipation as he looked around for their most likely exit. So far the shots had only been fired from one side of the train. It might be a trap, but he had to go with his instinct to climb out on the opposite side. "On the count of three, I'm gonna shoot out that window down there. You let me go first, but I want you right behind me, you got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. Just be careful. Guns aren't the worst thing they brought with them."

With a last nod, Nick shot the window out, thrusting the gun into her hands, knowing she'd need it more than he would. Moving quick, he lobbed himself out the window feet first, landing in a rolling crouch. So far, so good, there weren't a pack of Division thugs waiting there with guns drawn, and he spared a quick look around before turning back to make sure Cassie made it through safely. Nimble as a fox, she scrambled out of the window, landing lightly on her feet, eyes wary.

"Nick, look out!" she hissed, pulling him back against the train, as a group of men in black tactical gear hanging onto the side of a jeep drove into view from the rear of the train.

"No, this is good. We can use that jeep," he replied, refusing to duck back between the cars.

"Nick…" her eyes darted between him and the rapidly approaching jeep. "Nick, get back."

"I've got this," Nick murmured, concentrating on the jeep. With a move of his hand, the driver went sailing out of the driver's seat. The jeep swung out of control, sending half of the men tumbling to the ground while the other half clung for dear life. Another spin and there were only two left, easy enough for him to send flying with another wider gesture. "Let's go." Without waiting for a reply, he caught hold of her hand, all but yanking her off her feet in his hurry to get to the jeep. As the Division soldiers picked themselves up, he simply Moved them back again, sending them flying an impressive distance.

"Boy, you weren't kidding were you?" Cassie's eyes went wide, clearly impressed by the display of power, and Nick couldn't help but feel his chest swell a little with pride. It wasn't often he got to put his ability to such spectacular use those days, but it was gratifying to find the power was still there when he needed it. Scrambling into the passenger's seat, she strapped on her seatbelt automatically. Two steps behind her, Nick had the driver's door open when he spotted them.

Two guys on foot, they could have been passengers from the train, but Nick knew they were trouble instinctively. As they got closer, he couldn't help but offer up a quick breath of thanks that Cassie's artistic skills had grown. If he'd been little more than a stick figure with dark hair Nick never would have recognized him, and it very well might have been too late by the time he realized the danger they were in. As it was, he recognized the slight figure for who he was, the teen with the sickening power to strip the flesh from his body.

Without hesitation, Nick raised his hand, even as he heard Cassie scream beside him, "That's him, Nick! He's the one!" Instead of just flinging them both aside and hopping into the jeep to get away, Nick targeted his power, sending the dangerous teen to crash head first through the nearest train window. So focused on taking the boy out, Nick had nearly forgotten the Bleeder by his side until it was too late. The ear splitting shock waves rocketed by with enough force to shatter the windows of the jeep, driving him to his knees. Beside him, he heard Cassie shriek, and he caught sight of her slumping over in the seat.

Hands reaching up to plug his ears, he fell into the fetal position, trying desperately to find something that could be used as a weapon. Focusing his concentration in a tight burst, he uncovered an ear long enough to blow the Bleeder back off his feet, hoping it would be enough to get him to stop the skull shattering noise. Luck was with him, and the sound shut off so abruptly, even the absence of it hurt. Staggering to his feet, Nick spotted his salvation, sending out his power with all the control he could muster. The Bleeder drew in a new breath, only to fall over in a gurgle, the jagged shard of glass buried deep in his neck.

"Cassie?" Nick coughed, ears ringing as he stumbled back towards the jeep. They had to get out of there before the other guy woke up, or the commandos got more creative than bullets.

"Here," she raised her hand, like he'd been calling roll, her head popping up so that just her eyes were visible over the dash. "Are they gone?"

The sound of gunfire exploded around them again, and she ducked back down with a cry of pain. Something about the sound of that scream did something to Nick, and he twisted around, Moving the gunmen to crash into the side of the train.

_Hard_.

With enough force to send the railroad car they crashed into end over end, taking two other cars with it in a screech of rending metal. The gunshots ceased as all eyes went to the spectacle of the derailed train. "Cass?" Nick ran to the smoking jeep, not knowing what to expect, a wave of relief swept over him as her blue eyes peeped up at him from between the seats.

"You have seriously been holding out on me," she breathed once she saw the damage he'd caused.

Nick had the grace to look a little sheepish, a flush of color stealing up the side of his neck. "I guess I got a little carried away when I thought you were hurt, are you okay?"

"I'll live, but we have to get going before the reinforcements get here."

He wasn't going to ask why she thought there would be reinforcements, leaving was high on his agenda as well, as soon as he did one thing. "Hold on a sec." Going to the nearest Division thug, Nick booted him in the stomach when he started to stir, retrieving the high tech earpiece. Slipping it over his ear, he could hear the chatter and Cassie was right. There were two units en route. Deciding to nip their plans in the bud, he keyed the comm. "Whoever's out there listening, this is Nick Gant. Tell Kira I'll talk to her and no one else. The next time Division sends someone after us, you're not gonna get anyone back unless it's her. Tell Kira, I'm ready to come in."

Tossing the earpiece onto the ground, he hopped into the jeep, the engine roaring to life as he peeled out of there, the thick tires eating up the road as he drove in the opposite direction that the reinforcements were coming from. Cassie continued to stare out at the train, passengers just now starting to emerge to assess the damage.

"You really don't do things halfway, do you?" she murmured.

"They need to get the message not to fuck with us anymore." He was tired of running. Sure, there was a little bit of excitement to be had in being on the run, but the instant he'd really thought Cassie was in danger, he'd known he didn't want this life for them anymore. "Division respects power, nothing else. We have to go to them from a position of power, not with our hats in hand asking to be left alone, pretty please."

"I think that'll do it."

The farther away they got from the wreckage, the less that feeling of dread suffused him, and Nick gradually came down from that panicky feeling that the other shoe was about to drop. Until the light came on from the dashboard light, drawing his attention. "Shit…"

"What is it?" Cassie seemed to be perfectly calm after their ordeal, her head falling to one side as she dozed lightly and he was reminded that neither of them had gotten much sleep lately.

"We're leaking gas; we must have caught a stray bullet."

"I have to say, your shields are for shit," she drawled, her brows drawn together into a deep frown.

"Hey, I kept us safe, didn't I?"

"That's a matter of opinion," she muttered.

"What?" Nick wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly. Unless he was mistaken, he'd singlehandedly saved them from a fate worse than death. Well, unless you counted the fact that he'd only had that opportunity with her warning, so not really singlehandedly. They made a good team, he realized with a smile.

"Nothing. What are we going to do when we run out of gas?"

"Hoof it. I saw a sign back there said it's only seven miles to the next exit, with any luck we can make it most of the way on what's left in the tank and we can walk the rest easy."

"Easy for you to say."

She was definitely sounding surly. "What's the matter?"

"Have you tried walking for a long distance in cowboy boots? First chance we get I'm getting a pair of good old Doc Martens," she all but growled, and Nick chuckled at the pouty tone.

"A walk never killed anyone. Remember how much walking we used to do when we got to New York? This'll be cake, you'll see."

"Whatever." Turning to face the other way, her eyes closed again, and Nick decided to let her sleep until the engine coughed and sputtered, and the jeep coasted gently to the shoulder of the road. Cassie wasn't in a better mood when he shook her awake and announced it was time to walk, but she slung her bag without argument, falling into stride beside him on the deserted stretch of highway. Nick had to bite back his impatience at the pace she set, frequently stopping when he realized she wasn't keeping up with him.

"Move it, Cassie, we'll never get there at this rate," he prompted her after waiting again for her to catch up."

"Can't we take a break?"

"We just took one not that long ago. We have to keep moving, you know that."

"I'm tired," she complained, and he had to admit, she did look pretty wiped out.

"Come on, I'll give you a piggy back ride," he suggested with a grin, but she only made a face.

"I'm not five. I just need to rest for a minute, okay?" Unslinging her bag, she let it fall to the dusty ground, but Nick kept walking.

"Cassie, come on. We can't keep stopping to rest every five minutes. If we do, Division is gonna catch up with us in no time." Not that he didn't think he could handle it, but he preferred to get a little rest first.

"I don't care."

"Boy, someone woke up on the wrong side of the road tonight. When did you get to be so grumpycakes?" he teased, turning back to see her slumped by the side of the road. "Seriously, it's not that bad. Cassie…" all at once he knew something was wrong from the broken way she lay there, and he ran back, sliding in the dirt as he reached her side. "Cass?"

She turned her face up to him, eyes clouded with pain. "I'm sorry, Nick. I tried."

"Cassie… what is it? What's wrong?" Nick searched for any sign of injury, his hand coming away wet with blood when he touched her side, the dark t-shirt masking the telltale stain. _Oh sweet Jesus, she'd been shot!_

**A/N: To be honest I really hadn't planned on another cliffhanger, in fact I was going to end this chapter a completely different way. But then Cassie had to go and get herself shot, and… well, one thing led to another and here we are. **

**In other news, if anyone is interested in entering to win a free copy of my vampire novel _Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down_, I'm having a giveaway on Goodreads, offering two print copies. **

**Feedback is love.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Okay, okay, I know that cliffhanger was particularly hangy. The good news is I'm almost done with my first draft of _Mercy for the Damned, _at about 76K words, so I can focus more on this story next week while I'm working on edits. **

"_Move it, Cassie, we'll never get there at this rate," he prompted her after waiting again for her to catch up."_

"_Can't we take a break?" _

"_We just took one not that long ago. We have to keep moving, you know that."_

"_I'm tired," she complained, and he had to admit, she did look pretty wiped out. _

"_Come on, I'll give you a piggy back ride," he suggested with a grin, but she only made a face. _

"_I'm not five. I just need to rest for a minute, okay?" Unslinging her bag, she let it fall to the dusty ground, but Nick kept walking._

"_Cassie, come on. We can't keep stopping to rest every five minutes. If we do, Division is gonna catch up with us in no time." Not that he didn't think he could handle it, but he preferred to get a little rest first. _

"_I don't care."_

"_Boy, someone woke up on the wrong side of the road tonight. When did you get to be so grumpycakes?" he teased, turning back to see her slumped by the side of the road. "Seriously, it's not that bad. Cassie…" all at once he knew something was wrong from the broken way she lay there, and he ran back, sliding in the dirt as he reached her side. "Cass?" _

_She turned her face up to him, eyes clouded with pain. "I'm sorry, Nick. I tried." _

"_Cassie… what is it? What's wrong?" Nick searched for any sign of injury, his hand coming away wet with blood when he touched her side, the dark t-shirt masking the telltale stain. Oh sweet Jesus, she'd been shot!_

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

I _hate_ getting shot.

Luckily I was pretty out of it for the most part. At one point I was aware of Nick carrying me, cradling me close to his body, but all I could concentrate on was the jolt of pain with each step, no matter how gently he held me. I'm not really sure how much later it was when I woke up, but the sun was high in the sky when I found myself laid out on the rear seat of a sedan.

Groggily, I wiped the sleep from my eyes, more relieved than I could say to find Nick behind the wheel instead of Division. For long minutes I watched him drive, admiring his handsome profile before I noticed the dried blood on his hands. My blood, I assumed.

"Where did you get the car, Nick?" My voice came out as more of a croak than anything else, and I swallowed thirstily.

Nick darted a look over his shoulder, relief mingling with worry on his features. "Hey, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Like a tiger took a bite out of my side." I didn't want to look down at the wound, I didn't want to do anything, I tried to be as still as possible. "Where did you get the car?" I repeated. For some reason I fixated on that question to fill in the missing hours of my life.

"It doesn't matter."

"What happened to not stealing?"

"I didn't have a choice," his brows knit together into a single dark line. "We can't take another train and a plane's out of the question."

"You said you didn't know how to steal a car," my eyes narrowed at him, and he tossed a lopsided grin over his shoulder.

"No, I asked if _you_ knew how, I never said I didn't."

I knew there was a reason I loved him. It occurred to me that I might not get a chance to tell him that though, as I shifted and pain ripped through my side with enough force to make my vision dim and little pinpricks of light swam before my eyes. I must have made some kind of noise because the car swerved a little, which didn't help, and Nick lost his smile.

"Cassie?"

"Something to tell you," I mumbled. Why did it feel like everything was underwater all of a sudden? It took more effort to move, to breathe, to speak.

"Stay with me, Cass."

"Always wanted to tell you, before it's too late…" I struggled to keep my eyes open, but it felt so much easier to let them slide closed. Just rest for a moment, I promised myself, save up my strength.

"Don't talk like that, I'm gonna get you some help, I promise."

I was so thirsty… Dimly I registered the fact that he was still talking, but even though my mind screamed and my heart slammed in my chest with panic as I felt myself slipping away, I knew the only noise I made was a faint mumble as I tried to say those three little words.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

"Cassie?" Her lack of response sent Nick's worry into overdrive and he debated with himself whether to pull over and check on her or keep going. Panic warred with the swift conclusion that his best bet for getting her the help she needed was to keep on towards Tulsa.

_It was all his fault. _

Why had he been so cocky about his shields? He'd promised to keep her safe, and now she was bleeding out onto the upholstery of the car he'd boosted, and there was nothing he could do about it. Nick would have given anything in that moment to possess the smallest talent as a Stitch, but he could only destroy things, not put them back together.

The single look he'd taken at her wound had shown him the bullet had passed neatly through her side. He'd ripped apart one of his t-shirts to fashion a makeshift bandage, but the blood seeped through much faster than he'd liked. Fear tasted like ashes in his mouth as he gathered her into his arms, slinging her bag and his as he carried her down the road as fast as he dared. The first car that came into view, he'd _made_ stop, not giving a damn that the owner had run off screaming that Nick must be a mutant or an alien or something. All that mattered to him was getting Cassie to safety; keeping the existence of psychic gifts a secret was the least of his worries.

_It was all his fault._ And Nick would do whatever it took to make it up to Cassie for putting her in harm's way.

The question was, should he chance taking her to a regular hospital, or hope that he could somehow stumble upon a local Stitch? If he took her to a regular doctor, they'd have to report a gunshot wound for sure, and it would be a matter of time before Division or someone else showed up. They were flying blind with Cassie drifting in and out of consciousness; he had no idea what decisions could land them out of the frying pan and into the fire.

They needed help, and for once luck was with them; the car's owner left a cell phone charging on the center console. There were maybe three people in the world he trusted enough to call at a time like that, and Nick flipped the phone open, dialing the man who he hoped would have the answers he needed.

"Yes…?" The answer came with a hesitation, no doubt from the unknown number on his display.

Nick gave a silent prayer of thanks when he heard the familiar voice. "Hook, it's me, Nick. Can you talk?"

"Hey Nick, you sound tense. Is everything okay?"

"Oh you know, pretty much like usual."

"That bad, huh? What can I do to help?"

"We're just outside of Tulsa, I'm hoping you can hook us up with a Stitch in the area." The last he'd heard, Hook had set himself up in Colorado, but hopefully his contacts extended to that part of the country.

Hook chuckled at the terrible play on words. "Let me make some calls, can I get you back at this number?"

"For the time being, yes." Nick bit back a wave of disappointment that he didn't have the answer right at his fingertips, but it was to be expected, he supposed.

"When you say we…"

"Cassie's hurt real bad. So the sooner, the better." There was no laughter in his voice anymore; it bled out with the growing stain on the rear seat.

"I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

He stopped once to try and get her to drink some water, but she scarcely got one sip down before she started coughing. Her eyes started open, unfocused with pain and he hadn't tried that again, almost grateful when she slipped back under. At least she felt no pain when she was out cold. At least, he hoped not.

They were just reaching the city limits when the call came and Nick fumbled to answer it. "Talk to me, Hook." It couldn't be anyone else, he refused to accept it.

"There is a Stitch just north of Tulsa, she belongs to the Collective there."

"The Collective? What is that? I've never heard of them."

"There's a reason for that. They're separatists, they don't want anything to do with Division and they've been autonomous ever since the seventies."

"That's a pretty good trick, how did they manage that?" As near as he could tell Division muscled their way into even the remotest of power bases in the States. The idea that there was a commune of people living without Division involvement sounded like a fairy tale.

"The guy who set it up is a very powerful Pusher, Division won't go near him."

A powerful Pusher. Swell. Just what he didn't want to go up against after dealing with Carver and then Kira. But what choice did they have? He was just grateful to find someone close. "Will they help us?"

"I don't see why not, just let it be known you've got no love for Division and they should open their tents to you."

"Tents?"

"Yeah… they have a tent revival thing going on Sundays. They call it faith healing, that sort of thing, but it's a bona fide Stitch running the show."

"A tent revival thing," Nick repeated, not sure he liked the sound of that either. "But they're regular people, right? I mean regular like our kind of regular."

"Mostly they're a bunch of like minded people who just want to live in peace, and that's what they do. It's probably the biggest gathering of our kind in Northern America. It's not all tents, they have some regular buildings too, at least they did the last time I went through that area. But it is sort of like a commune, you'll have to see for yourself."

He didn't care if they were Amish, as long as they had a Stitch to see to Cassie. "Are they expecting us then?"

"Not exactly. They don't have any phones out there. I called a Sniff who lives in the city to make sure they're still out there before I sent you on a wild goose chase. Perri confirmed they're still going strong, and refreshed my memory on the location." Hook gave Nick the rough directions to find the camp, changing his direction to find the right exit.

"Thanks man, I really appreciate this."

"No worries, I'm glad I could help. Give my love to Cassie."

"I will," Nick replied, hanging up. More than anything he wished for the chance to give her _his _love. The idea that they might not make it in time drove him to push the car to its limits, risking a speeding ticket in his haste to get to the Collective, as Hook called it.

He almost missed the hand lettered sign announcing the turnoff from the main road, the single lane dirt road heavily choked with weeds. Forced to slow down to keep from jostling her roughly, Nick ground his teeth against the delay. Up ahead in the distance, he saw a large, canvas tent flapping in the late afternoon breeze, deserted by all appearances. Figuring that must be the tent they had their Sunday revivals in, Nick kept driving, looking for signs of the encampment itself.

There road got more weed ridden the closer he got to the commune, obviously not driven very often by heavy vehicles. A modest structure stood at the end of the road, and Nick saw a lone jeep parked in front of it. Before he could even put the vehicle into park, a small crowd gathered in front of the building, interested no doubt in who'd come to pay a visit in the unknown car. Nick barely spared them a glance, throwing open the back door to gently pull Cassie into his arms.

"Hey, we're here…" he said softly when she made a low sound at the movement. "Cassie, can you hear me, honey? I'm gonna get you fixed up in no time." Carefully pulling her out of the car, he looked from one curious face to another in the growing crowd. They were dressed in simple, homemade clothes and thrift store bargains for the most part. The women tended to have long, flowing hair, and some of the boys too. Exactly how he might have pictured a hippie commune.

"You have a Stitch?" he called out, but no one actually answered him, they shuffled back a few steps when he moved in their direction, staring at him as if he had two heads. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me," he muttered. Did none of them speak English for chrissakes? Didn't they see the wounded girl in his arms? The crowd of people parted like the red seas when he approached the building, not knowing what else to try.

The door opened before Nick had a chance to knock with his boot, a tall man in his early fifties emerging, polishing a pair of round spectacles with a handkerchief. Dressed in a pair of oxfords, camel colored trousers and a pale blue button up shirt with a navy sweater vest, he looked completely out of place in that environment.

"What's all the ruckus then?" he asked in a dry, British accent.

"I need a Stitch. A friend of mine, Hook Waters said you could help us," Nick didn't bother to disguise the distress in his voice, shifting Cassie a little so the man could see the blood soaked bandage wrapped around her abdomen.

"Oh dear, so you do," he nodded, replacing the glasses on his nose. "Well then, why don't you bring her around to the healing center? Sara Rose, would you please escort Mr…"

"Gant, my name is Nick Gant," he supplied, thinking he might have seen a slight recognition in the other man's eyes when he said his name.

"Take Mr. Gant to the healing center at once. Once you've left your charge in their care, I wonder if you'd take a cup of tea with me?" he smiled cordially.

"I'd rather stay with her if it's all the same to you," Nick replied, already looking for this Sara Rose, relieved when a petite girl with sandy brown hair up in a high ponytail dressed in overall shorts stepped forward.

"Perhaps I'll walk with you," he smiled again and Nick nodded, he could care less as long as Cassie got the help she needed.

"Whatever you say, Mr…"

"Blake," he replied, "pleased to make your acquaintance. I only wish it were under better circumstances."

Escorted by the man himself, Nick murmured comforting words by Cassie's ear as he brought her around the building, to the "healing center" which was a fancy word for another tent set among the trees. If he hadn't know the power to cure came from the Stitch herself, Nick would never have brought anyone to such a place to be healed. But beggars couldn't be choosers, and he followed Blake into the tent, ducking low until he reached the center that rose to twelve feet at least at the peak of the sloped roof. Inside were a half dozen low beds, and a large wooden table in the center, stained and scarred with the signs of many other wounded that came before.

"Another lost sheep brought back to the fold?" A slender blonde entered from behind an interior flap, her face serene, despite the sight of blood and Nick's obvious distress.

"She's been shot," Nick replied, ignoring the odd question. "The bullet went straight through, but she's lost a lot of blood. Where do you want her?"

Instead of replying, the blonde looked to Blake for instructions. "It's alright, Annabelle, they're like us," he nodded in benediction and she gestured to the table.

"Lay her down here." Her voice held the soft drawl of the deep south, Alabama maybe, Nick guessed. As carefully as he could manage, he set Cassie down, relieved to see her eyelids flutter open.

"Hey, I told you I'd get you some help, didn't I Cass?" he smiled just for her, laying a soft kiss to her sweaty brow.

"Where are we?" she mumbled, licking her lips to moisten them.

"With some new friends. This is Annabelle and she's a Stitch. This is Cassie," Nick looked up to the others. "And she means more to me than anything else in this world." The unspoken message was there, thrown down like a gauntlet. If anything happened to her, he'd make them pay with his dying breath. At the same time, he meant that he'd offer any payment they asked, as long as they made her well again.

Blake gave no sign that he found anything untoward with the proclamation. He simply removed his glasses again, reaching for the handkerchief in his pocket. "I wonder if you wouldn't step outside with me for a moment?" he asked Nick, already heading for the tent opening.

"Alright, just for a minute." He imagined the guy had plenty of questions for him, but he didn't want to be away from Cassie for very long.

"Nick?" Cassie's head came up with worry when he left her side.

"I'll be right back. Don't worry, I'm not going far."

Despite the temporary nature of a tent community, the Collective had the stamp of permanence to it with well manicured paths from the public tents and facilities. As Nick stepped back outside, he caught a better view of the layout. There were several large tents like the healing center and a few permanent wooden structures like the one he'd first seen grouped around a center open area with a firepit and rows of seating made from fallen logs. There were lights strung up on poles and water spigots sticking up from the ground at regular intervals so there was at least electricity and running water in the camp. Other than that, it looked pretty rustic, with all manner of smaller tents dappled through the surrounding fields.

"Walk with me," Blake suggested mildly, replacing the spectacles on his nose and setting off towards the gathering area in the center.

"I'd rather not go too far…" Nick followed along after a moment's hesitation, his attention split between the man and the tent where Cassie lay.

"It'll be fine, Nick," he assured him with a genial smile. "I'd prefer to ask you a few questions, and Annabelle likes to gather the stillness around her when she works. What brings you to our neck of the woods, as they say?"

Nick could understand that reasoning, but he wasn't very happy about it. Still he followed Blake to the ring of seats, preferring to remain standing as the other man sat down. "Division."

"I surmised as much, but I don't suppose you could elaborate a bit?" Blake chuckled.

"Ah… you know, it's the usual song and dance with them. They came after us, we ran. Only this time I wasn't careful enough, and she caught a bullet." It weighed on him heavily that she'd been shot on his watch, after bragging about his ability to protect her.

"You're a Mover." It was a statement rather than a question.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Had he been right, did Blake recognize his name?

"We remain apart from the world by choice, but we are not without intelligence. I've heard of you and your struggles with Division before. That would make her the Watcher, I believe?"

"That's right." Nick braced himself for the song and dance he knew was coming. No one ever heard of them without hearing about the serum. Here would come the pitch to hand it over. The fact that it sat in the pack in the front seat of the car, completely unguarded was enough to make him sweat.

Instead, Blake shook his head. "Terrible business in Hong Kong, it's a miracle you escaped with your lives. Of course you're perfectly welcome to stay with us here at the Collective. I can guarantee Division won't pursue you here."

"No offense Mr. Blake, but it sounds like it's been a long time since you've tangled with Division. There's a lot of heat after us." Hopefully they'd gotten the message at the train that he wanted to come in and talk to Kira, but you never knew how Division would react to a perceived threat. "Maybe they'll respect your Collective and maybe they won't. I appreciate any help you have to give, and you can name your price, but as soon as Cassie is back on her feet, we'll be on our way. It'll be better for everyone that way."

"Don't make any hasty decisions now; you'll have ample time to get to know us first."

A piercing scream rent the air, sending Nick into an instant panic as he recognized the owner of that voice. "Cassie!" Without waiting another moment, he turned, but only got two steps before two men blocked his path. "Get out of my way," he growled, easily brushing them aside with his power. All that mattered was getting to Cassie and the horrible sounds she was making.

"Stop where you are, Nick." Blake was suddenly there, his tone mild, even as his eyes darkened and caught hold of his will. Nick stumbled to a halt, every fiber of his being straining to move past him.

"I have to get in there, she needs me," he looked down at the ground, anywhere but at those dark eyes that held him in his sway, but the damage was already done.

Blake laid a gentle hand to Nick's shoulder. "I told you, Annabelle prefers to gather the stillness around her. She can't do that if you're looking over her shoulder and meddling. Go and take a seat."

Robotically, Nick obeyed, walking with calm, even steps to the nearest bench seat and following the order given. It didn't stop the desire to go after her though, Cassie's whimpers of pain still giving fuel to his panic. "Please… let me go." Every muscle strained against himself to get up again, but he couldn't break the compulsion.

"In due time, Nick. In due time."

**A/N: Okay, is it really a surprise that I left a bit of a cliffhanger there? I'd love to hear what you guys think of the new turn of events. Let me hear you!**

**Feedback is love.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**I'm glad you guys are interested in the new twist. To be honest, I never intended this stop on their journey, but then Cassie went and got herself shot… and well, that set the plot bunnies to hopping! **

**We're gonna try something a little different today, picking back up with Nick again to start and then Cassie. **

**Oh, on a side note, I have the wrong age range for Blake in the previous chapter, I don't know what I was thinking. He should be in his early sixties, not fifties. Please adjust your mental picture. **

"_No offense Mr. Blake, but it sounds like it's been a long time since you've tangled with Division. There's a lot of heat after us." Hopefully they'd gotten the message at the train that he wanted to come in and talk to Kira, but you never knew how Division would react to a perceived threat. "Maybe they'll respect your Collective and maybe they won't. I appreciate any help you have to give, and you can name your price, but as soon as Cassie is back on her feet, we'll be on our way. It'll be better for everyone that way."_

"_Don't make any hasty decisions now; you'll have ample time to get to know us first."_

_A piercing scream rent the air, sending Nick into an instant panic as he recognized the owner of that voice. "Cassie!" Without waiting another moment, he turned, but only got two steps before two men blocked his path. "Get out of my way," he growled, easily brushing them aside with his power. All that mattered was getting to Cassie and the horrible sounds she was making. _

"_Stop where you are, Nick." Blake was suddenly there, his tone mild, even as his eyes darkened and caught hold of his will. Nick stumbled to a halt, every fiber of his being straining to move past him. _

"_I have to get in there, she needs me," he looked down at the ground, anywhere but at those dark eyes that held him in his sway, but the damage was already done._

_Blake laid a gentle hand to Nick's shoulder. "I told you, Annabelle prefers to gather the stillness around her. She can't do that if you're looking over her shoulder and meddling. Go and take a seat." _

_Robotically, Nick obeyed, walking with calm, even steps to the nearest bench seat and following the order given. It didn't stop the desire to go after her though, Cassie's whimpers of pain still giving fuel to his panic. "Please… let me go." Every muscle strained against himself to get up again, but he couldn't break the compulsion._

"_In due time, Nick. In due time."_

~Nick~

Nick's head came up, the sudden silence far too disturbing after the nature of her cries. His ears strained for any proof that she'd survived the process, but picked up nothing but birdsong and the wind rustling through the trees.

"There now, that's better, isn't it?" Blake patted him on the shoulder, but all Nick could think of was the worst case scenario.

What if Cassie died? What if that's why they'd kept him apart from her? Had they recognized her wounds as fatal? Or was it more sinister than that? This Blake knew who they were; what if he wanted to get his hands on Cassie for his own purposes? A powerful Watcher was a useful commodity, especially to a community as cut off from conventional communication as they were. "If you hurt her…" Nick growled, but Blake simply shook his head in amusement.

"Come now, Nick. We are none of us monsters here. I can understand your reluctance to trust after the life you've led, but I can assure you, we have only your best interests at heart. I'm hoping that you and I will become great friends."

"Friends don't use against each other." Especially not with Blake's gift, and hope to remain friendly.

"If I were to let you go, you would undoubtedly rush into that tent and disturb Annabelle in the midst of her duties. I don't have to tell you how dangerous that might be, given the delicate nature of her task. Surely you can see that, can't you?"

Grudgingly Nick could admit to himself that might be so, but if he'd been allowed to just hold her hand… the thought of Cassie suffering through it all alone was more than he could bear.

Continuing as if he'd agreed aloud, Blake laid a comforting hand to Nick's shoulder. "I understand the pain it causes you to hear those you care for endure suffering of any kind, and it's clear to me you care a great deal for the girl."

"I love her," Nick said simply.

"Then accept our help, and do what's best for her. Try to step out of the situation and observe it objectively. I am assuming you've been healed by a Stitch before, you know how painful a process it can be."

"It's not one of my favorite memories, no," Nick allowed. All the more reason why he should have been allowed in there with her.

"As soon as I've been given the all clear I'll release you, and you can see for yourself the wonders our little Annabelle is capable of."

"I thought you were the one in charge here?"

"Not when it comes to matters of healing. In those, I bow to her expertise and humbly carry out her instructions. I don't mind telling you, I've not had occasion to regret it these many years," he offered a charming smile, and Nick let out a long, pent up breath, wanting to believe him. "And as far as payment, we have no expectations of you, whatsoever."

"Thank you." Though Nick knew that even if no monetary amount was mentioned in payment, there would be a debt owed and only a matter of time before it was repaid. He didn't mind though, that was the way of the world. He'd only survived as long as he had by cultivating debts and credits among friends and enemies alike.

"No thanks are necessary," Blake's smile grew at the thanks given. "I will say, that I hope, given a little time, you will come to see us for who we are and appreciate what we've built here. There could very well be a place here for both of you."

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

I waited for Nick to come back to me, but I felt him moving farther and farther away as I teetered on the brink of consciousness, only tethered to the world by pain.

Just because he said I was among friends didn't mean I felt at all comfortable on the hard table. In fact, there are few times I can remember feeling more uncomfortable. In addition to the fact that I had a white hot poker of pain lancing through my side that made it hard to breathe, let alone think, now I had this skinny blonde with a gap toothed smile looking down at me like a new project.

Annabelle stood, her face serene despite the fact that I was at death's door. "Do you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior?"

_Super, she was one of those._ "If you'll make the pain stop I'll accept Justin Bieber," I ground out through clenched teeth. Where was Nick? I needed him to make her help me, instead of putting me through catechism.

But instead of being offended, her smile stretched wider, her tone still sugary sweet. "Mock Him all you like, but that's not how salvation works. I can only help you if you truly accept that I am but an instrument of the Lord."

That presupposed that the Big Guy upstairs gave a rats ass about saving my sorry life, but I recognized that she needed to hear the words. "No, I do accept that, I want to be saved," I nodded fervently.

"Before you accept Him, you must repent of your sins."

_Uh oh…_ did that mean she wanted to hear my confession? I was pretty sure I'd done things in my short lifetime to turn her pretty hair white with shock. If she judged me unworthy, would she not want to heal me? Moistening my lips, I tried to give her what she wanted, desperately clinging to the tenuous thread of consciousness. "I do, I repent. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" the last was easily said. There were a lot of things I was sorry about, things I'd done or hadn't done. Things left unsaid. My eyes darted to the opening of the tent. "So sorry…"

She said more then, and I made vague murmurs of assent. To tell the truth I have no idea what she yammered on about, it was getting harder and harder to hold on, but I tried… waiting for Nick to come back to me.

All at once my senses exploded in a world of pain as I felt her cool hands on my skin. I'd seen Nick healed before, and I knew it hadn't been pleasant, but nothing prepared me for this. A piercing cry to rival that of any Bleeder rent the air, and in a moment of clarity, I realized it was coming from me. I don't know how I had the strength to draw breath, but I screamed like a banshee, incapable of forming words that could have told her to leave me the fuck alone; dying had to be preferable to enduring her brand of salvation. And then there were no words, no screams, nothing but the pathetic whimpering cries she wrung from my body as she forced the pieces of the puzzle back together.

"Nick…" his name died on my lips as I didn't have the strength to utter that simple word, my mind holding fast to it like a prayer. Why didn't he come?

How long it went on, I have no idea, but I gradually became aware of the fact that I wasn't on the table anymore, but a softer mattress. The Stitch was gone, and some other girl sat beside me, laying a cool cloth to my forehead.

"We're not all like that, you know," she said softly when she noticed I was awake. I wanted to reply, but all that came out was a croak, my voice was shot to hell. Setting down the cloth, she picked up a bright blue plastic cup, the kind you give to toddlers, and held it to my lips. I didn't care what was in the cup, I drank greedily, gratified to find it held nothing more than cool water.

"Like what?" I managed to get out, laying back in exhaustion from that simple movement.

"Full of all that Jesus and salvation stuff, that's just her way," she shrugged. "I'm Sarah Rose, by the way."

"Cassie," I swallowed, gingerly moving my body a fraction of an inch at a time, testing my range of movement. The sharp pain in my side was completely gone, but I felt like I'd drowned and been brought back to life; sore all over. "Where's Nick?"

"I expect he's outside, they wanted to let you rest up a bit. How do you feel?"

"What is this place?" I ignored her question, much more concerned with whether or not I had to prepare myself to fight my way out of there to find Nick or not.

"Blake, that's the man in charge, he calls it the Collective, but that sounds kind ominous to me, like that thing on Star Trek that absorbs people into the machine," she grinned. "We're like a commune I guess, every one of us talented in one way or another, like you are. We work together to learn more about our abilities, and keep the community going, but none of us are brainwashed. At least, I don't think we are," she frowned for a moment before her naturally sunny disposition reasserted itself.

"What are you?"

"I'm a Stitch, though nowhere near as good as Annabelle. It's said she can bring you back even if you've got one foot in the grave as long as she can grab hold of your other foot in time. She quite a celebrity in these parts, we get a lot of donations from her Sunday prayer meetings."

"She heals people out in the open?" How had Division not shut them down by now?

"Well, you saw for yourself, she does a lot of calling upon the holy spirit, so most folks think she's a faith healer, not you know, special like we are. Do you think you can take another sip of water?"

That sounded like heaven, but more than that I wanted to see Nick. "Do you think you can find Nick for me? I really need to see him."

"Sure, I can do that. I think he's waiting outside, I'll just stick my head out and see if he feels like a little visit."

"Thanks, Sarah Rose," I murmured, my eyes already falling closed from the strain of carrying on the conversation. I heard her get up and leave, her sandals flapping against the dirt floor. Telling myself I had to hold on long enough to see him before I could truly rest, I waited for Nick to come back to me. Why didn't he come?

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

Nick spotted the girl the moment she stepped out of the tent, but forced himself to remain in place, knowing Blake wouldn't let him get far anyway. Instead he focused on trying to read her features, gauging Cassie's condition by her expression.

"Your girl's asking for you," she smiled shyly at Nick and he felt a tremendous weight lift from his chest.

"Cassie's really okay?" It seemed too good to be true after all the drama of keeping him away from her. Could he really just get up and go see her? Nick darted a quick look to Blake, but his attention was on the girl.

"Of course. She's liable to be wore out for a couple of days, but she'll make a full recovery."

"There now, you see? All your fears were for nothing," Blake smiled magnanimously.

Not nothing, Nick didn't take being Pushed lightly, but he swallowed the response that leapt to mind, wholly focused on getting to Cassie's side. "If you'll excuse me, I'll just go check on her." Pausing to see if he'd be stopped this time, he relaxed when Blake made no protest.

"Go on ahead. Come and see me when your visit is through, I'll put on the kettle."

"Can't wait," Nick muttered, his feet taking him as fast as he could manage without breaking into a dead run, only pausing once he stepped into the deserted tent, expecting to see Cassie laid out on the table. For a heartbeat, his stomach clenched in dread, until he spotted her on one of the low beds. Stealthily he approached, not wanting to disturb her if she was asleep, but as he approached the bed, he couldn't resist depriving her of a little rest to make sure she really was okay. "Sleeping again, huh? I always said you were lazy." Nick made his voice low in case there was anyone listening in, a relieved smile stretching his lips as her eyes fluttered open.

"Nick, you're here," she murmured, lifting a hand which he was quick to take into his own as he sat beside the bed.

"Of course I'm here, where else would I be?"

"You left me," confusion crumpled her brow, and Nick hated to see it there, to see the doubt that he'd ever abandon her if he had a choice in the matter.

"I had to let them fix you up and for some reason, they didn't want me looking over your shoulder. Are you okay? I thought for sure I'd find little pieces of you all over the walls from all the racket you were making." Nick kept his tone light, but the thought really had plagued him while under Blake's Push.

"Yeah well, you have your insides scrambled by a crazy Stitch and see how quietly you take it," she grumbled and Nick couldn't help but laugh at her tone.

"Sorry, I'll be the one to get shot next time, if that makes you feel any better."

"No, that would not make me feel better," her frown deepened. "Do I have a gnarly scar?" Lifting her head, she pulled back the sticky t-shirt, to reveal smooth, unblemished skin but for the crust of dried blood.

"She did good work, there's not a mark on you," Nick resisted the urge to run his fingers over the newly healed skin, worried it might be tender to the touch. Instead, he brushed the hair back from her forehead as her head fell back against the pillow, fingers tracing over those worry lines that were too deeply ingrained for a girl her age. "You scared the hell out of me, you know. I thought I was going to lose you."

"You did?" her eyes focused on him again, and he saw a light of hope in their depths.

"I did," he nodded solemnly. "Cassie, I want you to know I'll do whatever it takes to make sure nothing like this ever happens to you again."

"It wasn't your fault, Nick…"

"No, it was. I'm supposed to be protecting you, and I let you down."

"I can take care of myself," she insisted.

"But you don't have to. Not anymore. It's you and me, Cass, no matter what it takes. I'm not losing you again." Nick gave her hand a little squeeze, willing her to understand how deeply it had hurt him, almost as though he'd taken the bullet himself.

"I'm fine."

"But you almost weren't. If I hadn't found a Stitch…" his head fell forward onto the bed, needing a moment to bite back the wave of terror that path took him on.

"But you did."

"But if I hadn't…" Nick felt her fingers thread through his hair in the lightest touch, comforting him. Cassie was the one who was shot and she was comforting _him_.

"You did. We can't focus on the what if's, we'll go crazy. If there's one thing I know, the future's not set in stone, anything can happen. You can't waste your time worrying over what might or might not happen and rethinking the choices you've already made. You have to play with the hand you're dealt and move on."

Nick looked up, losing himself in those wise eyes that had seen so much. "When did you get to be so smart?"

Cassie was quick to roll those eyes at that. "I told you, I'm not that thirteen year old kid anymore," the corner of her mouth tugged up into a lopsided grin.

"I know." Boy did he know. They sat in companionable silence, holding hands in the deserted tent, each drawing comfort from the other's presence.

"So, what happens now?" she asked at some length.

"I don't suppose you can see anything about this place? If it's safe to stay here? They're supposed to be Division free, but I'm not so sure about that."

Cassie took a deep breath, eyes closing in concentration, but instead of the twitching gasp he expected to shoot through her, she let the breath out in frustration. "Nothing, not even a glimmer," she scowled.

"You probably just need to rest," Nick patted her hand lightly. He shouldn't have even asked her to try yet.

"Will you stay here with me?" her fingers latched onto him, and Nick felt a pang at hearing the plaintive tone from Cassie when he knew how independent she prided herself on being.

"I'll be here when you wake up."

"Do you promise?"

Blake wanted to share a cup of tea or whatever, but Nick didn't care. There would be time enough for that later. For the moment Cassie needed him and that's all that mattered. "I'll never leave you again," he pledged solemnly.

"Could get kinda problematic in the bathroom," her nose wrinkled with distaste and he resisted the urge to swat it with a pillow, she was still so weak.

"Funny," he deadpanned. "Get some sleep."

Cassie nodded, eyes closing, she burrowed herself a little deeper into the mattress, never letting go of his hand. "Love you…" she murmured sleepily.

Nick stared at her, not sure if he'd heard her right, or if she even knew what she was saying. Her breath came slow and regular, she was already asleep. "I love you too, Cassie," he murmured, stroking the back of her hand gently. "Love you too."

**A/N: So what do you think, can they trust Blake and his Collective? Or are they an even bigger danger than Division? **

**Feedback is love.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

"_So, what happens now?" she asked at some length. _

"_I don't suppose you can See anything about this place? If it's safe to stay here? They're supposed to be Division free, but I'm not so sure about that." _

_Cassie took a deep breath, eyes closing in concentration, but instead of the twitching gasp he expected to shoot through her, she let the breath out in frustration. "Nothing, not even a glimmer," she scowled. _

"_You probably just need to rest," Nick patted her hand lightly. He shouldn't have even asked her to try yet. _

"_Will you stay here with me?" her fingers latched onto him, and Nick felt a pang at hearing the plaintive tone from Cassie when he knew how independent she prided herself on being. _

"_I'll be here when you wake up."_

"_Do you promise?"_

_Blake wanted to share a cup of tea or whatever, but Nick didn't care. There would be time enough for that later. For the moment Cassie needed him and that's all that mattered. "I'll never leave you again," he pledged solemnly._

"_Could get kinda problematic in the bathroom," her nose wrinkled with distaste and he resisted the urge to swat it with a pillow, she was still so weak. _

"_Funny," he deadpanned. "Get some sleep." _

_Cassie nodded, eyes closing, she burrowed herself a little deeper into the mattress, never letting go of his hand. "Love you…" she murmured sleepily. _

_Nick stared at her, not sure if he'd heard her right, or if she even knew what she was saying. Her breath came slow and regular, she was already asleep. "I love you too, Cassie," he murmured, stroking the back of her hand gently. "Love you too."_

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

I'm not sure how long I slept for, but Nick was still my by side when I woke, his hand curved protectively around mine. He looked exhausted, slumped over on the chair, his head lolling at an unnatural angle. I wondered if I should wake him up or let him sleep. Deciding to stay put for the moment, I let him be, figuring he could use the rest. I felt stiff and sore all over, but less wiped out, and my mind zipped along at full speed.

Taking the opportunity to utilize the peace and quiet, I closed my eyes, centering myself to try to access my ability. Nick had asked me if we could trust the people there, and I took that responsibility seriously. My failure to pick up on them worried me more than I liked, and as the seconds ticked by and I caught not even a glimmer of _anything_, it kicked into overdrive. My visions didn't always come right on schedule, but I could usually count on picking up some useless garbage if I let my senses wander for a while. I should have been able to See Annabelle eating her dinner or Sarah Rose washing dishes or something innocuous. What if my near death experience had somehow affected my power as a Watcher?

How many times had I prayed for a normal life? But the moment my visions deserted me, I felt naked without them. No, worse than naked, I felt targeted. How was I supposed to keep us safe when I was flying blind? I could be sure Division fixed their sights on me; the idea that I couldn't do the same terrified me. My hand twitched as a shiver went through me, and Nick's eyes popped open, a deep frown automatically drawing his brows together.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. You fell asleep, talk about who's the lazy one," I offered him a wan smile, not wanting him to carry the burden of my fears.

"Hey, I'm the one who had to carry you down the road, you're not exactly light as a feather anymore," he teased, absently rubbing the back of his neck.

"Are you calling me fat?"

"Hey, it's not your fault. It's all that junkfood you eat."

"Me? Hello pot? Kettle here, I'm pretty sure it's your turn to be black," I muttered, pulling my hand out of his to sit a little higher. I knew he was teasing, _knew_ it. But that didn't stop me from doing a surreptitious check. Were my hips getting bigger? Nick just laughed at my disgruntled expression, and I guess it was worth being annoyed to hear that sound again. "Are we gonna take off soon or stick around for a while?" I changed the subject.

Nick let out a long sigh. "That's the million dollar question. I think we should take the opportunity to get a little rest while we can. If they can really keep Division off our backs, it's worth it to stick around until you're feeling back to normal. You haven't Seen anything to let you know if they're on the up and up yet, have you?"

"Nothing," I answered succinctly, not wanting to explore that topic too deeply. "We don't have to stay here on my account though; I can keep up if you want to leave."

"No deal. We don't go until you get a clean bill of health from the Stitch, or they do something else to piss me off."

_Uh oh._ "Something else to piss you off? What did they do?" Had he gotten into a fight of some kind already? We'd just gotten there…

"It's not a big deal," he shook his head.

"Nick, if something weird is up here, I want to know about it."

"Blake just… it's probably nothing," he waved away my concern, and I decided I didn't have the energy to pry it out of him, not yet.

"If you say so, but I'm sure I'll be fine to leave whenever you're ready."

"I'm not taking any chances with your health this time." Nick picked up my hand again, dropping a quick kiss to the back of it and my heart melted. He really did care. I'm sure I had the sappiest look on my face just then, but Sarah Rose happened to poke her head in, keeping me from saying anything foolish.

"Hey y'all, everything okay in here?" she smiled, approaching almost shyly.

"Yeah, I'm feeling much better, thanks." I nodded.

"Good. How about you let go of your girl for a while, let us take her to the bath house for a wash up and a clean change of clothes?"

I could see indecision warring on Nick's features, trying to decide if he trusted them enough to leave me alone again. "I'll be fine, Nick. A bath actually sounds really good." It felt like ages since my last good shower, the one in the train had been cramped and not all that hot.

"If you're sure you'll be okay."

"Yeah, I'm sure I can take a bath on my own. Unless you'd like to scrub my back?" I raised a single brow at him, and a flush of color stole up the side of his neck as he darted a look to Sarah Rose. I could guess what he was thinking, worried again what people might think, but I could care less. I'd rather stake my claim on him in front of the pretty girl.

"I'll leave you to it then," he coughed, stumbling to his feet. "I'm gonna go talk to Blake about getting us a place to stay tonight. Hopefully he's got something a little more private than this," he changed the subject.

"I'll be fine," I promised, watching him go with a mixture of amusement and longing.

"We'll go nice and slow, the walk should do you good," she smiled as soon as Nick was gone.

"Slow is good," I breathed as every muscle protested with the simple movement of swinging my legs out of bed and sitting up.

"So Nick, he's your…"

"He's my… everything. He's the only one I've ever been able to count on, the only thing I have left in this world." I swallowed past the lump that rose in my throat, not wanting to think about what could have happened to my mother.

"He sure is sweet on you. Went plumb crazy when Blake made him stay away while you was getting Stitched. I've never seen anyone as strong a Mover as he is."

"Yeah, it's best not to mess with him," I smiled faintly. I could imagine the scene he would have caused; Nick didn't like to be told what to do. She led me out of the tent, down a dirt path to one of the few buildings in the complex. There were two entrances, segregated by little blue signs that marked one side for males and the other for females.

"This is the bath house. Normally we take showers, but we're allowed one bath a week." It reminded me of the public showers at a school or gym, little stalls with plastic curtains for privacy, a row of lockers and benches on one wall, though nothing was locked up, and a row of bathroom stalls on the far wall. Sarah Rose led me straight past them and through another door which held nothing but a large porcelain tub in the center of the room.

"Here we are, I'll be back to collect you in about a half an hour with some fresh clothes, will that suit?"

Glad she wouldn't be sticking around to watch me undress, I nodded. "Oh, can you maybe bring me my iPod? It's in my pack, Nick will know where." At least I hoped he'd brought my pack, I was a little fuzzy on some of the details leading up to our arrival there.

Sarah Rose's face fell. "You can't use that here."

"What? Why not?"

"We embrace a simpler lifestyle here. No phones, no television, no computers, no iPods. It helps to cut down on the unnecessary distractions of life and that way we can focus on developing our gifts easier."

"Are you kidding me?" People didn't really live like that, did they?

"No. But we have live music here almost every night down by the firepit," she smiled earnestly.

"Swell," I managed a tight smile. I didn't need a vision to tell me I wasn't about to pitch a tent and call the Collective home. Something was definitely off with those people. As soon as Nick was satisfied I'd healed, we were out of there as far as I was concerned.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

"I'm quite interested to get your opinion on our Collective here," Blake smiled, offering Nick the steaming cup. Nick would have preferred a cup of coffee, but he'd grown used to tea when living abroad, and accepted it with a smile of thanks.

"I have to say, it's an interesting idea. I just can't believe Division really keeps their noses out of it. It's got to drive them crazy knowing all the talent you're amassing here without having their input."

"Yes, well, it's not as though they haven't tried to infiltrate us over the years, but we've managed to maintain our autonomy thus far. It helps that the _talent_, as you say, can spot their spies a mile away," he chuckled.

Nick shared a smile at that. "I kinda got the feeling you know a little bit about us and what we went through." After all, he'd mentioned Hong Kong before. "How much do you know about why Division is after us?" More than anything he needed to know if they were aware of the serum sitting in the pack at his feet, and whether Blake had any designs on using it for himself.

"I know you defeated a powerful Pusher," he said mildly, blowing across the top of his tea.

"Carver," Nick nodded. "That was all Kira though; she was the only one strong enough to take him on."

"I think you undervalue yourself tremendously, Nick," Blake disagreed. "You've become a very powerful Mover, far stronger than even your father."

"You knew my father?" Nick sat a little higher in his chair.

"Yes, believe it or not, I knew him before you were born. He was one of the few I approached when I first thought of making my Collective a reality, but he said he couldn't join our efforts; he had other considerations for the future. Even then, he was aware of his importance in the grand scheme of things. It made him paranoid, but in hindsight, I suppose he was right."

The concept that his father had been moving towards a specific future from before he was born wasn't a new one to him, but Nick couldn't help but wonder. Was he still working towards his father's goals? Or had he long ago broken off on a side path? His reluctance to take on Division felt almost like a betrayal of his father's death, since once Carver had been defeated, another rose to fill the vacuum of power. Kira. Was it selfish to avoid challenging her and Division's stranglehold on the community because of his desire to have a normal life? "I don't know if I'm still living according to his plan or not," Nick admitted.

"Perhaps it's time you found your own plan? You could do a lot of good here."

"What did you have in mind?"

"You lived on your own for many of your formative years as I understand it."

Again there was that sense that he knew more about them than he was comfortable with. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Consider what it would have been like for you to have grown up in a nurturing, supportive environment, where your gifts could be developed."

"It's a little too late for that conversation, don't you think?" He'd managed to learn how to survive and done well enough.

"But it's not too late for the many children we have here at the Collective. You have a tremendous amount of power and control at your disposal, Nick. Think of the positive influence you could have on the lives of others. The lessons you could teach them."

He wanted him to be a teacher? "I've never tried to show anybody how to Move things before, I don't even know how I'd start. You just… do it."

Blake waved away his objection as unimportant. "I think with a little guidance you could become a valuable asset to us here."

"I don't doubt that you do," Nick smirked. "I'm not convinced it's the right fit for me though."

"Don't make any hasty decisions. Take your time to see what we're really about. There's no rush to make any commitments, things move a touch slower here, and we like it that way."

Nick listened as Blake continued to extol the virtues of his Collective, nodding at all the appropriate places, but he wasn't a hundred percent sold on the idea of sticking around. Something about them didn't feel right. Still, he couldn't fault their hospitality.

When he met up with Cassie for the evening meal, served buffet style, he couldn't help but smile over her transformation. Gone were her skinny jeans and band t-shirt. They obviously hadn't given her the clothes from her pack either. Instead she wore a flowing, tie-died skirt that fell to her ankles in a dazzling array of color with a pink peasant blouse that brought out the apples in her cheeks. Her long, blonde hair hung loose, except for twin braids pulled back from her temples, fastened in back with a strip of cloth. She looked beautiful as always, and somehow softer, drawing a wide smile from him.

"Shut up," she muttered irritably.

"What? I think you look adorable," he grinned.

"I look like a hippie threw up all over me."

"I thought you liked color." Didn't she own a tie-dyed shirt thing?

"Not like this."

"What's wrong? I think you look sweet."

"I'll show you sweet," she muttered, storming past him to get into the food line.

The meal consisted of vegetarian chili, freshly baked cornbread with hand churned butter and a green salad grown from their own gardens, or so the helpful person dispensing trays informed them. They were easily the most interesting thing that had happened to the camp in some time, if all the stares were to be believed, and Nick felt awkwardly on display as he took a seat with Cassie against an old tree.

The evening's entertainments boasted a concert down by the firepit as promised, board games were available in the rec room and a rousing game of bingo could be heard from a large pavilion. Nick and Cassie opted to remain apart, under the tree together until it grew cold enough that he started to think about where they'd spend the night.

Right on cue, Sarah Rose showed up to show them where to go. "This here is where you'll bed down for the night, Nick," she took them to one of the larger tents where a bunch of bedrolls were laid out, dormitory style.

"Ah, no offense, but I'd rather have something a little more private," he frowned, as half the beds were already taken, and all by men. "And I'm not sure this is the best place for Cassie."

"Cassie isn't sleeping here," Sarah Rose laughed as if that was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "She'll sleep in the women's tent over yonder," she pointed.

"We can't sleep together?" Cassie's brows came up in surprise.

"Well no… not unless you've taken vows. You haven't taken them, have you? I didn't see any rings, but I shouldn't have made the assumption, sorry."

"No, we haven't taken any… vows," Nick frowned, not sure he liked the sound of this. He could respect their morals, but he wanted to be the one to police his own. Still, it was late, and Cassie looked like she was about to fall asleep standing up.

"Nick…" Cassie's frown was just as deep once the surprise faded.

"It'll be alright. We'll figure something out in the morning," he cut her off.

"Are you sure about this? You said you wouldn't leave me."

"It's just for one night, Cass," his hand came up to cup her cheek. "Now scoot, you need your rest."

"Alright," she mumbled, looking none too pleased by his easy capitulation. Nick watched them go; taking note of exactly what tent Sarah Rose took her to. He waved across the clearing to Cassie as she turned back for a final look. In the morning he'd have to have another talk to Blake. If he really wanted them to stick around, this wasn't going to cut it.

It was much later when Nick found himself startled awake, a cold pair of feet pressing against his. "Cassie?" he whispered, catching sight of her bright hair in the moonlight that streamed into the tent. "What are you doing in here?"

"You forgot to give me my kiss goodnight," she whispered back, and he caught a flash of white teeth from her smile. "I can't sleep without that."

"You're gonna get us tossed out of here," he grumbled, even as he shifted to pull her into his arms. She immediately snuggled up close to his body and he had to admit, he had missed having her there.

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"You don't like it here?"

"They're… weird. Living in tents?"

"It's cleaner than some of the places I've stayed in before," he pointed out.

"True. But come on, Nick. Do you really see us living like this? They actually confiscated my iPod. Do you know how much music I have on that thing?" She sounded as offended as if they'd cut out one of her kidneys and sold it on the black market. "And not letting us stay together? What is that about?"

"They might have a point there." Though he'd missed her, it would make it a lot easier to stick to his plan of waiting until she turned eighteen to take their relationship to the next level.

"Are you kidding me? I hate to break it to you, but neither one of us is a virgin, so there's nothing to save for the wedding day."

"You're not?" he blinked, at a loss for words. He hadn't given it much thought one way or another. Sure, he accepted that she'd grown up and he'd known she was living on her own but… it wasn't something he liked to think about.

"Do you think I've lived in a cave for the past two years? I've had boyfriends before. Hell, I've done what I had to do to keep a roof over my head some nights."

"I don't want to hear about that." It almost made him sick to think of someone else taking advantage of her in that way.

"Oh come on, you can't expect me to have been saving myself for you after you left me behind for _her_."

Nick's frown deepened as she brought out that argument again. "I didn't… Cassie…" he sighed. "I wasn't expecting you to save yourself for _me_, I was just… I'm sorry you had to grow up so fast, that's all."

"It is what it is," she gave a little half shrug. "My point though, is that it's ridiculous keeping us apart like this for the concept of saving my innocence, that's long gone," she sighed against his chest, and Nick's arms tightened around her unconsciously.

"I'll figure out something for us tomorrow. If Blake wants us to stick around, he's going to have to make some concessions," he promised.

"Will you get my iPod back?"

"I'll see what I can do."

"Do you ever think about the future, Nick?"

His brows came up at that, and he wished he could see her face. "Aren't you the one who always says the future's not set in stone?"

"That doesn't mean I don't think about it sometimes. Do you?"

"Sure I do, of course. It's hard not to."

"What do you see, when you think about it? Our future."

"Ah, I don't know," he shrugged. "Nothing too specific. Just the two of us, safe and on our own, without having to run anymore."

"Where?"

"Someplace quiet, where nothing ever happens," he murmured into her hair, eyes drifting shut as the peaceful dream of the future overtook him.

"Like on a farm somewhere?"

"No, not on a farm. Don't worry, I won't forget you're allergic to cows," he chuckled at the note of skepticism that crept into her voice. "It could be a city if you want. The main selling point would be the lack of people trying to kill us."

"But I'm definitely there with you? In this perfect vision of the future."

His arms tightened around her, his chin settling on top of her head. "You're the only constant in my perfect vision in the future. I don't care where we live, Cass, as long as you're there with me."

"Do you promise?"

"I told you before, it's you and me from now on, I promise."

"Would you call that a vow?"

His lips curved in the darkness, he could see where she was going, but he wanted to wait for better surroundings before he had _that_ conversation. "It's a promise that when the time is right, we'll continue this conversation and there could be vows involved."

"When do you think that might be?"

"Goodnight, Cassie," he smiled softly.

"What about my goodnight kiss?"

Nick kissed her forehead, fully expecting a protest, but Cassie just let out another long sigh, relaxing against him. He let her stay there in the shelter of his embrace until just before dawn, when he gently scooped her up and returned her to the ladies tent. It was easy to see which bed was earmarked for her, she'd left it open, and her boots were sticking out from under it. Setting her down, he tucked her in to bed, pressing another soft kiss to her forehead. Just before he reached the safety of the edge of the tent, he felt another pair of eyes on him, and turned to see Sarah Rose watching him with avid interest. Lifting a finger, he pressed it to his lips, gratified to see her nod, giving him a broad wink. At least it looked like not everyone was such a stickler for the rules. The thought filled him with hope as he sought out his cold, lonely bed.

**A/N: What do you think, is the jury still out on the Collective? Should they stay or should they go?**

**Feedback is love.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**I'm with you guys, I think they need to get out of there before it's too late…**

_His arms tightened around her, his chin settling on top of her head. "You're the only constant in my perfect vision in the future. I don't care where we live, Cass, as long as you're there with me." _

"_Do you promise?"_

"_I told you before, it's you and me from now on, I promise." _

"_Would you call that a vow?"_

_His lips curved in the darkness, he could see where she was going, but he wanted to wait for better surroundings before he had that conversation. "It's a promise that when the time is right, we'll continue this conversation and there could be vows involved." _

"_When do you think that might be?"_

"_Goodnight, Cassie," he smiled softly._

"_What about my goodnight kiss?"_

_Nick kissed her forehead, fully expecting a protest, but Cassie just let out another long sigh, relaxing against him. He let her stay there in the shelter of his embrace until just before dawn, when he gently scooped her up and returned her to the ladies tent. It was easy to see which bed was earmarked for her, she'd left it open, and her boots were sticking out from under it. Setting her down, he tucked her in to bed, pressing another soft kiss to her forehead. Just before he reached the safety of the edge of the tent, he felt another pair of eyes on him, and turned to see Sarah Rose watching him with avid interest. Lifting a finger, he pressed it to his lips, gratified to see her nod, giving him a broad wink. At least it looked like not everyone was such a stickler for the rules. The thought filled him with hope as he sought out his cold, lonely bed. _

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

Of course I woke up back in the girl's tent; trust Nick to make sure we followed the rules. It was tempting to sneak back over there just to try and get thrown out but instead I lay there, listening to the early morning activity around me. It seemed like everyone was up at the buttcrack of dawn, and I spared a smile for the thought of them trying to get Nick to wake up before noon.

Less sore than I had been the night before, I still felt a little stiff getting up, glad to find my pack with my regular clothes next to the bed. I felt much more comfortable in my own clothes, and I tossed the pink shirt into a nearby hamper, but packed away the colorful skirt for another day. With a few strategic cuts it might actually be cute.

Seeing as how no one came to get me, I sat on the end of the bed, sketchbook in hand, waiting for something… anything to inspire me, but no visions came. Tamping down the panicky flutter the empty void filled me with, I shoved away the book when a little girl peeked her head into the tent.

"Annabelle wants to see you," she reported, just the top of her head and eyes visible.

"How nice for her," I grumbled, tugging on my boots. The last thing I wanted to do was see that kook. Then again, the sooner she gave me the all clear, the sooner I could talk Nick into leaving. "Well, where is she?" I asked, but she was already gone. Figuring I should head for the healing center, especially since it was one of the few places I knew how to find, I set out for the big tent, ignoring the stares my less than traditional clothing drew.

Annabelle stood before the big wooden table I'd been brought to the day before, scrubbing diligently at the blood-soaked wood. Was it just the day before? It felt like a week.

"You wanted to see me?"

She looked up from her chore with a brilliant smile, stopping to rinse her hands from a nearby pitcher. "You look much better this morning, praise His name."

"I feel a lot better, thanks," I nodded, not quite sure what else to say to that.

"I thought you might like to pray with me."

"Well, you thought wrong," I grumbled, the morning visit taking on a new cast.

All at once she lost the smile, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "And here I thought you wanted redemption."

"I'm pretty sure that's not yours to give." An exam I could endure, but she had no business meddling with the condition of my soul; my sins were my own.

"I am but a humble instrument of the Lord. I would hate to have to rescind the blessing you've received."

What was she going on about now? "Come again?"

"The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away," her eyes glittered maliciously and I caught the intent right enough that time. It was a threat, plain and simple. Play things her way, or she'd Stitch me into a coma or worse.

"I can't pray with you right now, I have to find Nick. Maybe later though…" I took a step backwards, and then another.

"Nick is busy on his own path to salvation; you would be well reminded to keep to yours."

I gauged the distance between me and the door of the tent, but what good would it do to run? I was in an enemy camp and the odds were stacked way against me, especially since my ability to Watch had taken a holiday. Over time I've learned you have to pick your battles and wait for the opportune moment. So instead of retreating, I held my position. "What do you want me to do?"

"Take my hand, and we'll pray together." Raising her hand, the sweet smile returned, but I could see the steel behind her eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was take her hand, not when she could cripple me with a single touch. But I pasted a smile on my own lips, slipping my hand into hers to take my place by her side.

This wasn't over. Not by a longshot.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

All morning long Nick tried to find the time to check in on Cassie and see how she was healing. And all morning long it seemed like one thing or another put itself in Nick's way. First there was the tour of the camp. Blake was proud to show him everything down to the smallest detail. They were almost completely self sustaining, relying on donations from the Sunday services and selling crafts at a local flea market to supplement their income.

Nick had to wonder if everyone who joined the commune got the same one on one treatment from Blake, but somehow he didn't think so. It was an impressive thing, keeping everything running smoothly, he had to give them that.

At lunch time, he begged off of an invitation to join Blake in his house for the noontime meal, determined to find Cassie. From the moment he laid eyes on her, he could tell something was wrong. She held herself very still, barely reacting when he approached her. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Not here," she replied through a false smile, though for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why. "I'm not really hungry; do you want to take a walk?"

"Yeah, sure." He looked around, but couldn't find the source of her discomfort. Sure everyone stared at them, but so far that was the norm. Once they broke away from the lunch area, he tried again. "What's the matter?"

"We have to get out of here, okay? Don't ask me why; let's just grab our gear and go."

"Did you have a vision?"

Something passed over her face that he didn't recognize. "No, not a vision… but we have to get out of here before it's too late."

There wasn't anyone else around that he could see, and Nick considered pressing her for more details. But seeing the look in her eyes… he nodded, trusting her judgment. "Alright, go get your pack; I'll meet you out front by the car."

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea to split up."

_It was as bad as all that?_ Nick let out a breath, rubbing his hands against his jeans. "Okay then, we'll get my stuff first, I've got the serum." He wasn't sure why she was suddenly so spooked, but at seeing her answering smile, Nick knew he had to be doing the right thing.

As soon as they approached the dormitory tents, it was evident that something was up. People swarmed from every part of the camp, headed for Blake's house. "What's going on?" he asked the first person who came close enough, but she didn't stop; running to catch up with the others. "Come on, we'd better check this out."

A black limousine sat in the dirt driveway, its tinted windows giving no indication of who or what lay inside. "Nick, let's just get our stuff and go," Cassie tugged at his arm, backing away as soon as she saw the car.

"How, on foot? That thing is blocking the entire exit," Nick gestured.

"You could Move it if you wanted to."

"Let's just see who it is." Though he already had a sneaking suspicion he knew exactly who was in that limo.

Blake strode to the forefront of the crowd, removing his glasses to polish them as he waited patiently for someone to step out. The doors all opened at once, and six men in dark suits got out, Division practically stamped on their foreheads. They surrounded a seventh man who alighted last, his eyes sweeping the crowd until they lit upon Nick and Cassie.

"We don't want any trouble; we're just here to collect them," he nodded in their direction.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," Blake replied, replacing the specs on his nose.

"This doesn't concern you, old man. We're here by invitation."

"Come on," Nick grabbed Cassie's hand, tugging her forward. "Where's Kira?" he asked the guy in charge. "That was the deal."

"We're ready to take you to her," he smiled evenly. "That's what you asked for, isn't it?"

"No, I told you people I'd talk to Kira and no one else."

"We have orders to bring you back with us peacefully," the man insisted, but another familiar figure joined the group, and his expression showing he clearly wanted anything but peace.

"Fuck the orders, he's mine." The skinny teen floated into the clearing, drawing an audible gasp from the crowd. It was a good trick, one Nick hadn't really considered trying before, but he understood the basic mechanics of it. He was more worried about the guy's other talents and the look in his eye. Too easy to hope he'd died back at the train, he'd obviously been healed by a Stitch, but still nursed a monster of a grudge.

"Come down from there this instant," Blake commanded, and to Division's surprise (none more so than the teen) he immediately drifted down to stand on his own two feet. "Nick are you prepared to go with these people?"

"Nope."

"Well then, I suggest you take your little troupe and go home. In fact… all of you should go home. You've been itching to visit the place of your birth, and you won't stop until you see your family again. Won't that be nice, a family reunion?" Blake smiled genially.

Smiles all around, the Division thugs all nodded in unison, losing interest in their orders. "And you, young man," Blake stopped in front of the dangerous teen. "You don't have a personal vendetta against Nick any longer, do you? You owe him your life."

The boy's face changed, turning to fix Nick with a bright smile. "I have to get going, but if you're ever in Tallahassee, stop by. I'd love a chance to repay you."

"I'll keep that in mind," Nick pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. Though it made him uncomfortable to see Blake Push them, he couldn't argue with the results, especially turning a dangerous kid like that into an ally. Of course, the moment Kira got to her people she'd just erase all the suggestions Blake implanted; if she cared enough to.

Blake approached Nick and Cassie as soon as the limo was on its way. "As you see, we can afford you every measure of protection. You need never fear Division again."

"I wouldn't count your chickens before they're hatched. Just because you got those lackeys to turn around doesn't mean they won't send someone after us." Nick couldn't help but think Kira wouldn't be such an easy target for him.

"I feel confident we'll prevail. Every one of us, to a member, will protect our own," he laid a hand on Nick's shoulder. "Every one of us."

Nick wasn't sure if that was comforting or disturbing, considering all the children present. He couldn't imagine bringing a full scale war against Division to their doorstep; it would devastate the innocent residents. Most of them had never come up against Division before, and just wanted to live their lives in peace.

Blake seemed to feel he'd made his point though, and with a final nod, he disappeared back into his house. The crowd was already starting to disperse, leaving Nick and Cassie behind. "I think we need to reassess our plan," he murmured, drawing her to lean against the split rail fence surrounding the front of the camp.

"What do you mean? Now's a perfect time to leave!" Cassie hissed, her eyes darting around suspiciously.

"This is the safest place we're going to find. You don't really think Division's going to give up, do you? As soon as they figure out what happened they'll be back, and these people can protect you a lot better than I can." That was the crux of it. He needed to make sure she stayed safe until Division was ready to deal.

"I'll take my chances on the road," she snorted. "Nick, Division already knows we're here; that makes us sitting ducks if we stay. It's just a matter of time before they show up in force and take us."

"They might just send Kira." Especially since the plan to take them had utterly failed.

Cassie shook her head, growing more agitated by the second. "She would have already been here if she was coming. Nick, I get that you want to stop running, and I want that too. But here isn't the place to do it."

"You haven't even given it a chance." It was a little rustic, but it wasn't _that_ bad.

"It's kind of hard to enjoy drinking the Kool-Aid when they're ramming it down your throat," she scowled.

"What are you talking about? They've been nothing but nice."

"Yeah, to _you_. You're the one they want, Nick. For whatever reason, this Blake guy has his panties in a bunch about getting you to stay. Me, I think they could care less about, or they wouldn't have tried threatening me."

A furrow of worry appeared on his brow at that. "Who threatened you?"

"Annabelle," Cassie whispered, as if she thought someone might be listening.

"The Stitch? Don't be ridiculous, she saved your life," he scoffed. Cassie always did have a flair for the dramatic, but he couldn't imagine the pretty blonde girl threatening a patient.

"And now she thinks she owns it. She basically threatened me this morning. Told me if I didn't pray with her, she'd take away the healing she gave me. If that's not a threat, I don't know what is."

"Maybe you misunderstood her."

Cassie gave him a look that left no doubt as to what she thought of that statement. "This is me you're talking to. Do you seriously think I'm making this up? Look, I'm sorry if you like it here, but I can't stay. So… if you don't want to leave with me…" she took a step towards the car and Nick was fast to catch hold of her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on now," he held her easily with his power.

"Let me go, Nick," she twisted against his invisible grip. "You can't keep me here against my will."

Nick came around to face her, letting go of her only to replace the hold with his own two arms. "Do you really think I'd let you leave without me?"

"I told you, I can't stay here."

"Then we'll leave tomorrow," he smiled down at her, relieved to feel her relax against his arms.

"Really? You'll come with me?"

"Of course I will. I might not agree with your take on this place, but I'm not about to lose you now." Nick's hand came up to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing across her lower lip.

"Let's leave now then. Why wait until tomorrow?"

Nick still didn't understand her degree of urgency, but he nodded. "Alright then, we'll go tonight as soon as it gets dark. If you're right, they won't be happy about our leaving, and that might be the best way to go about it."

"Thank you," Cassie let out a shaky breath, tears of relief standing in her eyes.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay, I promise," Nick assured her, leaning down to steal a quick kiss. Cassie wasn't so eager to let him go though, her arms encircling his neck, demanding he do a more thorough job of it. For long seconds he lost himself in her soft embrace, more determined than ever to keep her happy, no matter what it took. And if that meant pulling her away from the Collective, whether the danger there was real or imagined, he'd do it to please her. He just hoped he could keep her safe on his own. "How about we go get some lunch now?" he smiled once they pulled apart.

"Yeah, okay," she nodded and he was glad to see the fear disappear from her eyes.

"Nick, I wonder if I might speak with you for a moment?" Blake's voice came from the steps of his house.

"Don't go," Cassie whispered, clutching tight to his hand.

"I can't not go, he'll know something's up."

"Please Nick, don't go in there."

"I'll be right back. Go get something for me to eat too, and I'll meet you by our tree."

"But Nick…"

"It'll be fine, I promise."

**A/N: Who here thinks it'll be fine? **

**Feedback is love.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**This one's a little shorter, but it was burning a hole in my laptop, waiting to get out. Nick doesn't get a POV in this chapter. Bad Nick. **

"_I told you, I can't stay here."_

"_Then we'll leave tomorrow," he smiled down at her, relieved to feel her relax against his arms. _

"_Really? You'll come with me?"_

"_Of course I will. I might not agree with your take on this place, but I'm not about to lose you now." Nick's hand came up to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing across her lower lip. _

"_Let's leave now then. Why wait until tomorrow?"_

_Nick still didn't understand her degree of urgency, but he nodded. "Alright then, we'll go tonight as soon as it gets dark. If you're right, they won't be happy about our leaving, and that might be the best way to go about it."_

"_Thank you," Cassie let out a shaky breath, tears of relief standing in her eyes._

"_Hey, it's gonna be okay, I promise," Nick assured her, leaning down to steal a quick kiss. Cassie wasn't so eager to let him go though, her arms encircling his neck, demanding he do a more thorough job of it. For long seconds he lost himself in her soft embrace, more determined than ever to keep her happy, no matter what it took. And if that meant pulling her away from the Collective, whether the danger there was real or imagined, he'd do it to please her. He just hoped he could keep her safe on his own. "How about we go get some lunch now?" he smiled once they pulled apart._

"_Yeah, okay," she nodded and he was glad to see the fear disappear from her eyes. _

"_Nick, I wonder if I might speak with you for a moment?" Blake's voice came from the steps of his house. _

"_Don't go," Cassie whispered, clutching tight to his hand._

"_I can't not go, he'll know something's up."_

"_Please Nick, don't go in there."_

"_I'll be right back. Go get something for me to eat too, and I'll meet you by our tree." _

"_But Nick…"_

"_It'll be fine, I promise."_

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

I couldn't eat, not with Nick inside of Blake's house. But seeing as how I didn't want to draw attention to myself, I stood in line as expected, picking random food out of the line without paying much attention to it. Nick still wasn't out by the time I got to the tree, and I completely destroyed an orange by peeling it to death while I stared at the little house, waiting for him to show.

I finally spotted Nick, walking with a spring in his step on his way back to me, that familiar lopsided grin tugging at my heart. "What's for lunch? I am starved." He rubbed his hands together in anticipation as he squatted down beside me.

"Everything go okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't it?" He reached for an apple, polishing it on his shirt before taking a big bite.

"What did Blake want?"

"He wanted my input on starting some formal training for some of the Movers here in the camp."

"And…"

"And, I gave it to him. I think it's going to be a great program. I sure as hell wish I had something like that when I was growing up."

"You gave him your input." Something didn't sound right to me. I knew he didn't have the same reservations about the Collective as I did, but he sounded almost gung ho about the idea.

"Yeah, he had some good ideas, but you can't always apply the same methods to different talents. They've got an established program here for Watchers, which you should totally check out by the way," he nudged me with his knee. "But that doesn't translate so well for Movers. So, we brainstormed for a while, and I think we've got the beginnings of a workable program."

"_We_ do?"

"Oh yeah. I can't wait to get started."

"_Cào nî zûxian shí bâ dai chùsheng xai-jiao de xiang huo_…" I swore under my breath, hands fisting in my hair to hold back the scream of frustration. Though I'd never fully grasped the language as Nick had, it was on occasion much more satisfying to swear in Chinese than in English.

"Whoa, what's the matter?" Nick frowned, obviously at a loss for my tirade.

"He's fucked with your head, that's what's the matter. Jesus, Nick… do you not even remember the conversation we had about getting out of here?"

"You think he Pushed me? Blake would never do that, he's our friend."

"Blake doesn't know the definition of the word friend," I muttered, chewing on the inside of my bottom lip as I tried to figure out how to reach him. "Nick we have to leave this place. I know he spun all these thoughts in your head, but trust me, they're not yours. We have to get out of here."

Nick took hold of my hands in his, his face earnest. "Cassie, I can't leave. I promised to help him build something special. We have the opportunity to be part of something really great here. We can't pass that up; it's too good of an opportunity."

"What happened to trusting me, Nick? It's not safe here, remember the threats?" It was like none of that conversation took place under the influence of Blake's Push.

"He's offering us a home here; I thought you'd be happy to have that here with me. You wanted to trade vows, didn't you? We can do that here. We can finally have a life together."

"Not like this," I shook my head sadly. "What kind of a life is it when you don't have any free will?"

"I have free will; I made the decision to stay here, no one else."

He wasn't getting it, and I tried to remember it wasn't his fault. Blake's Push had completely reinvented his stance on the Collective, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. I asked the question, even though I didn't really want to know the answer. "And if I decided I can't stay here with you?"

"Then I'll miss you, but you know where I'll be when you come to your senses."

My eyes closed against the pain that statement brought, and I fought the tears that stung there. The only way I could get through to him was to fight fire with fire. For the moment I swallowed my hurt and gave him a watery smile. "Alright, Nick. We'll stay."

It didn't take long to find what I needed among so many talented people. Pretty soon I became besties with a girl a little younger than me, named Shelby. Shelby was from Montana and her entire family had moved to the Collective when she was five years old. Meaning, it was the only life she'd ever known, and we had absolutely nothing in common. Still, I listened to her yammer on about the Collective and how wonderful it was. I even ventured with her to the garden and let myself be pressed into slave labor to help with the weeding while she talked nonstop. Give me a Bleeder any day, at least when they turn your brains to mush, they don't take all day about it…

Anywhere Shelby wanted to go, I went, sticking to her side like glue, until I learned to nod and smile to the rhythm of her voice without having to really pay attention. I even made arrangements to bunk with her family so I could stay next to her at night. Annabelle seemed pleased by the association, and she stopped pressing me for private prayer meetings when I joined the community sessions at sunrise and sunset.

Why did I put myself through this torture, you may ask? Yep, you guessed it, Shelby was a Shadow. It was the only way I could think of to keep their Watchers from guessing what I had in mind. With Shelby by my side at least my thoughts were my own, and I slipped into relative anonymity, appearing to blend into the community.

My initial plan was to sneak off in the car we'd arrived in, but that disappeared from the driveway while I was still establishing my rapport with Shelby. When I asked him about it, Nick said he'd asked Blake to have his people take it back to the city; he felt bad about stealing it in the first place. I couldn't blame him for that, but it did make my plan a little harder to work out without ready transportation.

Sadly, Nick didn't seem to notice or care that I spent so much of my time away from him, his days fully occupied with starting the new Mover program. I was lucky if I got a smile from him in passing during the day, though he seemed attentive enough in the evenings, provided I wanted to listen to him talk about his success with the other Movers. I still hadn't had any visions since setting foot on Collective soil, and I started to wonder if they'd found a way to somehow block my ability, or if it was a result of my injuries.

After about a week of misery, I saw my chance at an opening, and took it. It didn't take much to talk Shelby into hitching a ride into town with the pilgrims that came to see Annabelle for her Sunday prayer meetings. Though there weren't any strict rules about leaving the compound, she hadn't had much occasion to since coming to the Collective. I made it sound like the city was a world of delights, and the gullible girl bought it hook line and sinker.

I could literally feel the vitality seeping back into my bones as I felt the sidewalk beneath my feet again. Shelby wanted to go find the nearest shopping center, and that suited me well enough. But while she stood gaping at the Hello Kitty display at the Sanrio store, I ducked next door to Radio Shack and picked up a cheap, disposable cellphone. _Now I was in business…_

I knew how to find her. That was never the problem, avoiding her was. But now there seemed little else to do but get her down there pronto. I left a detailed message on the number I knew would get back to her, and then rejoined Shelby who practically vibrated with excitement over all the different kinds of erasers in the shop. _Erasers._ I swear it was like going shopping with a five year old, but I pasted on my best smile and took her inside, telling her she could pick out her three favorite ones.

About an hour later I got a text message: **I can be there in four hours. Meet me at the Boulder Bridge. K**

"Oh Nick… this is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you," I sighed, looking down at the words.

Now all I needed to do was keep Shelby entertained for four hours and I'd have all the firepower I needed to bust Nick out of there. Turning to the girl, I tried to decide what might best distract her without driving me insane. "Have you ever seen a movie?"

"Blake has an old projector; we sometimes watch old movies on the side of the barn," she chattered excitedly.

"Come on, I want to introduce you to something called surround sound."

* * *

><p>"Who are we going to meet?"<p>

"I called an old friend."

"Oh," Shelby fell quiet on the bus ride to the bridge. "I thought you wanted to spend the day together."

"I do. I just thought it'd be even more fun if we had more people to hang with. You know, like a slumber party." I managed to get that out with a straight face, and the idea clearly caught Shelby's fancy.

"Oh! You mean we can stay up late and talk about boys and do each other's hair and stuff?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean," I didn't have to hide my smile at the thought of doing any of those things with Kira.

All at once her face crumpled with worry. "I didn't tell my folks I'd be out after dark though… maybe we should plan for a slumber party another night?"

"Come on, Shellybelly, you know it's always easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission, right?" I gave her a sly smile. "These are exciting times we're living in; it won't kill you to take a part in it for once." At least I hope it didn't…

Luckily Shelby was more of a follower than a leader, and she didn't offer much in the way of resistance as I dragged her along to the rendezvous. Half expecting to see another stretch limo pull up at the designated hour, I was surprised to see Kira step off another public bus across the street. Despite the very common mode of transportation, nothing about Kira looked common, from her expensively tailored suit to the elegant French manicure. Her shoes alone looked like they could feed Nick and me for a month. I felt like a scrappy little mongrel next to her, but I tried to remember this was the same girl who was terrified of bugs of any kind, and had to use a piece of tissue to put the toilet seat back down. Whatever confidence her talent gave her, she was still a human being, just like the rest of us with flaws of her own.

"You're supposed to be keeping him out of trouble, remember?"

_So much for heartfelt greetings._ "There's not a whole hell of a lot I can do against a Push," I replied sourly,

"Blake, right? Don't worry, I can handle him," she smirked with absolute confidence and poise. I wanted to smack her in the face, but I kept still for Nick's sake. "Who's this?"

"Shelby is my very best friend," I smiled vapidly, while Shelby dimpled beside me.

"No, seriously, who is she?" Kira's eyes raked over her critically.

"She's a Shadow, that's all you need to know."

"Handy. Okay, so what's the deal? Let me guess, the Collective's got their hooks into Nick and won't let him go?"

"Pretty much. They turned him into a believer and now he's busy training their Movers day in and day out."

Kira fell silent for a moment, digesting that. "Do you still have the serum?"

I thought long and hard about how to reply. I could always say we'd lost it, or destroyed it even, but eventually it would show up on some Watcher's radar again. "We do."

"What are you guys talking about?" Shelby frowned, just then clueing in that there wasn't about to be a slumber party that night.

Kira ignored her. "The deal is, we go in and get Nick and the serum. I'll get you out and take you anywhere you want to go, as long as you agree to turn the serum over to me. That part is non negotiable, got it?"

"How do I know you'll let us go?"

"I guess you'll just have to trust me, won't you?"

**A/N: Okay, so I know Nick speaks Cantonese and the swearing above is in Mandarin, but I don't know any swear words in Cantonese. I just love the mental picture of her swearing in Chinese. So… the big K rears her ugly head. Thoughts? Comments? Emotional outbursts?**

**Feedback is love.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Sorry I'm late in putting this out, and I was doing so well last week! This week turned into a pretty craptastic one for work, so that sucked out any available brainpower to work on my fanfic. Here's to hoping that goes away soon!**

"_You're supposed to be keeping him out of trouble, remember?"_

_So much for heartfelt greetings. "There's not a whole hell of a lot I can do against a Push," I replied sourly, _

"_Blake, right? Don't worry, I can handle him," she smirked with absolute confidence and poise. I wanted to smack her in the face, but I kept still for Nick's sake. "Who's this?" _

"_Shelby is my very best friend," I smiled vapidly, while Shelby dimpled beside me. _

"_No, seriously, who is she?" Kira's eyes raked over her critically._

"_She's a Shadow, that's all you need to know."_

"_Handy. Okay, so what's the deal? Let me guess, the Collective's got their hooks into Nick and won't let him go?"_

"_Pretty much. They turned him into a believer and now he's busy training their Movers day in and day out."_

_Kira fell silent for a moment, digesting that. "Do you still have the serum?"_

_I thought long and hard about how to reply. I could always say we'd lost it, or destroyed it even, but eventually it would show up on some Watcher's radar again. "We do."_

"_What are you guys talking about?" Shelby frowned, just then clueing in that there wasn't about to be a slumber party that night. _

_Kira ignored her. "The deal is, we go in and get Nick and the serum. I'll get you out and take you anywhere you want to go, as long as you agree to turn the serum over to me. That part is non negotiable, got it?"_

"_How do I know you'll let us go?"_

"_I guess you'll just have to trust me, won't you?"_

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

"Good, now focus, keep it tight…" Nick's voice was encouraging, despite the varying degrees of talent before him. Children of various ages sat on woven mats, painstakingly stacking colorful blocks of wood with the power of their minds. "Slow and steady wins the race Charlie, don't try and beat Gemma, worry about your own progress." Stopping by the prodigy's mat, he gave the little girl a ready wink and a smile. "Show off…"

A flash of blonde hair caught his attention, but instead of Cassie it was the Stitch, Annabelle, watching the proceedings with interest. Idly he wondered where Cass had disappeared to; maybe she'd be up for a dip in the creek if she didn't have important Watcher business to attend to. With all the time she'd been spending in the garden, she could probably use a good wash. The idea of helping her with that captured his attention for long seconds before the distant ringing of a bell signaled the end of their session.

It was like herding cats to get the kids to put the blocks away. Not that he really cared. With the wave of a hand Nick swept up all the blocks in one motion, depositing them in a wicker basket to the general delight of the group.

"You're great with them, you know." Annabelle's soft drawl came from the mouth of the tent as the last of the kids scampered off.

Nick shrugged at that. "I don't do so much; it's the kids that have all the talent. Mostly I'm just babysitting and taking all the credit," he grinned.

"Modesty is an admirable trait. It's plain to see you enjoy your work though, that's a blessing. I can't wait to see what y'all can accomplish with some time and patience."

"Time I've got. Patience… is a little iffy." He thought of all the times he'd snapped at Cassie when he'd first taken her under his protection. Cassie with her ridiculous clothes and outrageous behavior… Sometimes he thought she pushed him just to see if she could make him break. He wouldn't have her any other way though.

"They're taking a real shine to you too. It's nice how things work out sometimes, isn't it?"

"Yeah it is." If there was a point, he wished to hell she'd get to it. The longer she stood around, the more nervous she started to make him. What had Cassie said about the Stitch? That she couldn't be trusted? He'd ignored her suspicions as being overly dramatic, but with the woman there before him, her mysterious smile following him around the tent, he started to feel a little uncomfortable. "Is there something I can maybe help you with, Annabelle?"

"There may be a way I can help you," she replied, taking a slow circuit around the tent.

"Help me? What makes you think I need any help?" he gathered up the mats, stacking them neatly in the corner. In fact, he didn't think he'd been more content in his life. It felt good to be part of something bigger than he was, and with Cassie by his side, he didn't think he'd ever want to leave.

"Nick… there are other ways to serve Him." Her fingers reached up to sift through his hair as he bent to stack the mats, and all at once he caught on to her meaning.

"Whoa," he caught her hand lightly but firmly, straightening to his full height. "Sorry, but I'm spoken for."

A sultry smile curved her lips. "I don't see anyone around here doing the speaking."

"Cassie's just upset, she'll come around, she always does," he smiled at the sure knowledge that it was one thing he could always rely on. Even if they'd been on different wavelengths lately, it didn't change the connection they shared.

"What do you want with that child anyway? You deserve a woman who will be steadfast in her support of you."

"She's not a child." The reminder that she wasn't technically an adult yet made his insides clench, but he refused to let Annabelle erode all the strides he'd made in accepting that Cassie was the one for him. "Maybe I'll be the one to support her?" He let go of her arm, stepping away from her.

"She can't possibly give you everything you need." A flicker of movement caught his eye as her dress whispered over her curves to pool around her feet, leaving her standing there as God made her.

"Jesus Christ…" he averted his eyes, but he could still feel her there, naked. "Shouldn't you ah, put something on?"

Annabelle approached him, a smile on her lips. "Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame until the Devil interfered. Isn't my body pleasing to you? I have no shame in what the Lord hath wrought."

There was no way in hell he was going to answer that. Instead he Moved her dress up to wrap around her body before he looked at her. "I'm flattered, but really, that's not going to happen. I told you, I'm already taken, and I'm a one woman kind of guy."

Annabelle clutched at the dress, her eyes narrowing for a moment before the sunny smile returned. "Don't be too sure about that," she replied sweetly.

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

My toes tapped nervously the entire ride back to the Collective, my nails already bitten to the quick. Unburdened with Nick's morals, Kira had gotten us a ride within two minutes of deciding which car she wanted. I had to admit, her Push was a handy power to have, and the guy forked over his keys with a smile on his lips and a song in his heart.

Shelby had fallen into a sullen pout, and I ignored her, too wrapped up in my own worries to give a damn about her bruised feelings. It felt weird to be sitting next to Kira again, and I wished like hell I could tell what she was thinking. Was she happy about seeing Nick again? Did she still care about him? What would she think when she found out Nick was with me? Was Nick still _with_ me? Or would I fade into the background the first time she batted her impossibly thick lashes at him?

Luckily, she seemed just as impatient as I was, and her foot was made of lead as she pushed the sedan down the road as fast as it could go. I guess she didn't have to worry much about getting speeding tickets…

Forced to slow down after we turned onto the dirt road, she scowled at the bumps that jostled Shelby awake. "I want to go home," the girl whined.

"That's where I'm taking you," Kira bit out sourly.

"I don't know why you had to call _her_," Shelby muttered. "We were having a great day without her."

"Shut her up, will you?" Kira scowled and I let out a short bark of laughter.

"Yeah, good luck with that." I'd been trying to get her to shut up for a week straight with no results.

"I can hear you back here! I'm not gonna be your friend anymore, Cassie, so there!" Shelby wailed.

"Hey kid," Kira slowed the car to a crawl, looking up to catch Shelby's eye in the rearview mirror. "You don't want to talk anymore, do you?" Shelby's face went slack, her head shaking from side to side in acknowledgement. "In fact, talking is largely overrated, isn't it?" A nod was given. "You might not ever talk again unless it's an emergency."

"Kira…" As much as I valued my peace and quiet, it just wasn't right. "You can't leave her like that. How's she going to live?"

"In a much happier world," Kira's smile wasn't all that pleasant, and I resisted the urge to look away. I couldn't let her know I was afraid she might do the same to me.

"Come on, let her go. Just tell her she can't ever talk to you or something."

"Oh alright," Kira sighed, looking up to the mirror again, her eyes shimmering just a little with the bare effort it took to Push the girl. "Talking is overrated, but feel free to talk to anyone you like, except for me."

"And me," I piped up. I couldn't help it.

"You, won't be here for it to matter," Kira flashed a smile, letting Shelby go as she stepped on the gas. I gave her a nervous smile in reply, still more than a little worried by the easy display of power. What must life be like for her? Doing anything she pleased and not giving a damn who got in the way?

Blake's house came into sight, interrupting my train of thought. Before we got to the end of the drive there was already a crowd gathering, and I wondered if they somehow knew what to expect even with Shelby's Shadowing. As we stepped out of the car, Blake emerged from the house, in the act of placing the spectacles on his nose.

"Go on and get out of here Shelby, and thanks for your help," I spared her a brief smile. She might have been annoying as hell, but she wasn't a bad person, and I felt sorry for her having to stay behind. Shelby didn't do more than nod, a worried look to Kira before she darted off to the sanctuary of the treeline to join her family. My eyes scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of Nick, but he wasn't anywhere to be found.

"I see you've brought a friend," Blake smiled calmly, unperturbed by our arrival.

"I brought reinforcements," I clarified. "Where's Nick?"

"He's fine, don't trouble yourself on his account. I admit, I had rather hoped you wouldn't return."

There it was. They definitely didn't want me around. Why the hell not? What had I ever done to them? Or was it more about something I might do in the future? Damn, I hated not getting any visions! It was like a part of me was missing.

"This must be the infamous Kira," he smiled, and I had to wonder, how would they face off when Push came to shove? Was it like an old fashioned cowboy duel? Whoever had the quickest draw would win? Or was there more to it?

"That's right, and you must be Blake," Kira nodded in acknowledgement, meeting his gaze squarely. "I'm here to collect Nick, and then we'll be on our way," she announced calmly.

"Let's go inside, shall we?" he gestured to the house, and I clamped down on Kira's arm.

"No, don't go in there…" Bad things happened whenever someone disappeared into his house.

"Relax, it's fine." Wholly unconcerned, Kira shrugged off my hold, approaching the house boldly. I followed along behind, half expecting Blake to bar me from entering, but he waited patiently for us to come inside.

Nick sat at the table, drinking a cup of tea like it was the most amazing friggin' cup of tea ever, completely ignoring us. "Nick?" I called to him softly, but he didn't so much as twitch in acknowledgement.

"Hello, Nick," Kira smiled, and I could tell she really _was_ happy to see him again. _Damn._

"Kira," his face lit up in a smile. "God, it's great to see you… what are you doing here? Hey, are you here to join the Collective?" _Double damn…_ he looked happy to see her too. In fact, he looked positively giddy at the idea that she might be joining up.

"I heard you were in a little bit of trouble."

"Me? No, I'm great. Fantastic actually. Pull up a chair and have some tea, Blake can fill you in on the work we're doing here."

Same old song and dance. "Nick?" I tried again, but it was like he couldn't see or hear me. "You did this to him," I whirled on Blake, my annoyance kicking into overdrive at the satisfied smirk on his face.

"Sit down and be quiet."

Too late, I realized I hadn't remembered to avoid his gaze, and I abruptly sat down in the nearest chair. Even though my mind screamed for Kira to set me free, all I could do was watch while the three of them chatted amiably. What the hell had I been thinking?

Politely declining the offer of tea, Kira turned back to face Blake, the smile slipping from her lips as she got down to brass tacks. "Okay, here's the deal. I'll wait a decent interval so your people believe you still maintain a modicum of power, and then I'll be taking my people and leaving," she informed him. _My people_. Interesting that she didn't say 'friends', but I kept my trap shut under Blake's orders.

"Such cheek!" Blake laughed delightedly, not at all threatened by her statement. "What makes you so certain you're taking Nick anywhere? I have great plans for our Nick."

"Because I always take what I want," Kira's chin raised a fraction. Oh God… would that translate to Nick too if she decided she wanted him again?

"That's very interesting, but you'll pardon me if I think you're a little out of your element here. I've been Pushing people since before you were born, my dear. Perhaps you should take the girl and quit while you're ahead."

"I'm out of _my_ element?" she laughed. "It's a new world out there, old man. I can assure you, I'm exactly where I want to be." She began to stroll along the perimeter of the room, fingers brushing across his possessions. "Do you think Division doesn't know exactly what you're doing out here? Did you really think you were working under our radar?" She stopped at the old victrola, pushing the record round and around as she regarded him with her head canted to one side. "Aw, that's so cute, you did."

Blake lost hold of his temper, puffing up as his face turned a splotchy red. "You have no idea what we're capable of here. If you ever seek to leave this place alive, you will bloody well do it on my terms!"

Conversely, Kira remained cool as a cucumber. "Don't make the mistake of thinking you have your own objective. You're working here because we _allow_ you to. In fact, you've proven very useful for Division's interests. We've gotten some very strong recruits from your training camp."

"Our program doesn't train Division thugs," he spluttered.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Grandpa," she smiled condescendingly. "Okay, I think it's been long enough. Nick, we're going now."

_What about me…? _I wanted to yell, but all I could do was sit there.

"But…" Nick hesitated, teacup in hand, until she looked his way.

"Nick, you're coming with me." That's all it took, and he set the cup down and rose to follow. "You too Cassie, it's time to go. You don't have to sit and be quiet anymore, let's get moving.

I'd never been so happy to be Pushed in my entire life! It was all I could do not to jump up and hug her. Instead I went to Nick's side, looking for some sign of _my_ Nick, but he continued to ignore me.

Blake stepped up to block our path and I immediately dropped my gaze to the floor. Let them duke it out, I was done being Pushed. "I won't allow you to corrupt what we've built here," I heard him say. I reached for Nick's hand, but he didn't react to my touch at all. It was as if Blake Pushed him into thinking I didn't exist at all.

"Allow? You don't allow shit," Kira laughed. "Kneel." Without looking it was hard to tell what was going on, but after a long hesitation, she laughed again. "You want to try to get into my head old man? Go ahead, give it your best shot." More silence ensued, and then I heard Blake fall to his knees with a muffled cry. "You may have been big stuff back in the day but I'm the top dog now, and you're nowhere near a match for me, got it?"

"Got it," Blake replied woodenly.

"Kira, what are you going to do?" I whispered, darting a quick look to see her towering over him, her eyes completely black and locked with his.

"Go and get the serum. Do you know where it is?" she asked without looking in my direction.

"Yeah, I do, but…"

"Just go get it. Leave him to me."

**A/N: Dun, dun, dun! Okay, show of hands… who here thinks Kira saving them is a good thing? **

**Also, if anyone is interested, I'm giving away free ebook copies of my book _Pretty Witches All in a Row_ on Amazon this weekend only. So check it out if you like a paranormal murder mystery/romance with witches and glib detectives. **

**Feedback is love.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Sorry again for the delay, another craptastic week at work and then a little vacation, so I was on a bit of a break from writing, but I'm back on schedule now. Even made myself a spiff new office so I can be less distracted, yay!**

"_Nick, you're coming with me." That's all it took, and he set the cup down and rose to follow. "You too Cassie, it's time to go. You don't have to sit and be quiet anymore, let's get moving._

_I'd never been so happy to be Pushed in my entire life! It was all I could do not to jump up and hug her. Instead I went to Nick's side, looking for some sign of my Nick, but he continued to ignore me. _

_Blake stepped up to block our path and I immediately dropped my gaze to the floor. Let them duke it out, I was done being Pushed. "I won't allow you to corrupt what we've built here," I heard him say. I reached for Nick's hand, but he didn't react to my touch at all. It was as if Blake Pushed him into thinking I didn't exist at all. _

"_Allow? You don't allow shit," Kira laughed. "Kneel." Without looking it was hard to tell what was going on, but after a long hesitation, she laughed again. "You want to try to get into my head old man? Go ahead, give it your best shot." More silence ensued, and then I heard Blake fall to his knees with a muffled cry. "You may have been big stuff back in the day but I'm the top dog now, and you're nowhere near a match for me, got it?"_

"_Got it," Blake replied woodenly. _

"_Kira, what are you going to do?" I whispered, darting a quick look to see her towering over him, her eyes completely black and locked with his. _

"_Go and get the serum. Do you know where it is?" she asked without looking in my direction. _

"_Yeah, I do, but…"_

"_Just go get it. Leave him to me." _

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

_Hurry, hurry, hurry…_ Over and over the word reverberated through my brain as I set off for Nick's tent at a dead run. The group of people waiting outside gave me a wide berth as if I'd been infected with a noxious disease to be avoided at any cost. Some time during the past week Nick had rated his own private tent, complete with a real bed instead of a cot, even a carpet remnant for the floor. I headed for it at top speed, scared to death Kira might change her mind and leave me behind, or worse, Blake might prove wilier than we'd thought and turn the tables on her.

In a more rational frame of mind I should have realized that she wouldn't leave without the serum, and she hadn't broken so much as a mental sweat in her showdown with Blake, but at the time I gasped for breath as I skidded to a stop in front of Nick's tent. It didn't take long to find the serum in the bottom of his pack, and I stole a few precious seconds to toss the rest of his meager possessions into it as well. We didn't have much, and what we owned was hard won; I was grateful I already had my essentials in my bag with me.

I needn't have worried; as I returned to Blake's house, I found him kneeling in the same position, with Kira and Nick sitting on the small couch, knees touching as they played catch up on old times. The smile on Kira's lips widened as I shut the door behind me, chest heaving as I caught my breath. "Did you get it?" she asked, eyes shining with avarice.

"Yeah, I've got it here," I patted Nick's pack. "Can we go now?"

"Let me see it."

"I'll show it to you in the car, can we just go now?"

"I want to see it," she insisted stubbornly, and I didn't bother to hide my roll of the eyes as I dug through the pack.

"Oh for crying out loud… here," I held the syringe aloft. "Here it is, Kira. Can we go now?" Instead of making a grab for it like I expected her to do, her lips curved into a satisfied smile, but she made no move to take the syringe.

"Time to go," she announced sunnily. "Come on, Nick. I'll even let you drive this time." Nick still hadn't acknowledged me in any way, but instead of asking where she wanted him to go, he rose without challenge and followed her to the door, an answering grin on his face.

"Oh, so you're finally able to admit I'm the better driver then," he teased, making my heart twist with pain. _I_ was the one he was supposed to joke around with. I was always the one he teased and made fun of, it was our thing. Even back in the day when the three of us hung around together. With Kira it had been all drama and fights before eventually making up (mostly consisting of her getting her way and Nick groveling enough to turn my stomach).

"I just like to be able to concentrate on other things than the road, that's all," Kira smiled as he held the door open for her, and I watched like a dork as he pulled it shut behind him totally ignoring me.

"I'd like to say it's been fun, but it hasn't," I offered a parting shot to Blake who still knelt on the ground, his face blank. Hopefully whatever she'd done to him would wear off at some point, but honestly, if he remained like that for the rest of his life, the world would be a better place as far as I was concerned. I chased after Nick and Kira, catching up with them at the stolen car. "I guess I'm riding in the back seat," I muttered to no one in particular.

Relieved like hell to see the crazy commune fading in the distance, I slumped in the back seat, listening to Nick and Kira chat until I decided I couldn't take it anymore. "Hello, Earth to Nick…" I poked him in the shoulder, scowling when he didn't so much as bat an eyelash. "Why is he like that?" I asked Kira, leaning between the front two seats. While Nick still ignored me, he also didn't remark when Kira talked to me. Maybe he saw and heard me, but didn't care enough to acknowledge it in any way?

"Blake must have thought you have too much influence over him and decided to have him turn a blind eye to you I guess," Kira shrugged, unconcerned.

"Well, can you fix him? It's starting to creep me out," my forehead puckered with worry as I pinched his ear and he swatted at my hand as if I was an annoying insect.

"Probably, once I figure out what Blake did to him exactly."

I couldn't help but notice she didn't seem all that broken up about it, and I wondered how best to light a fire under her ass to get her moving on it without ticking her off and leaving me by the side of the road like an unwanted puppy. "Can't you just tell him he can see me now?"

Kira turned around, fixing me with a condescending smile while she explained the way she might have talked to a slow fourth grader. "It's not that simple. Sure, I can let him see you, but who knows what else Blake suggested to him? It might cause more harm than good. Besides, I have a better idea."

Despite the words 'better idea', I couldn't help but wonder; better for who? For Nick? For her? I was damn sure it wasn't necessarily better for me, but I held my tongue, ever aware of the precarious position I found myself in.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

"What do we need to be safe from?" Nick asked, setting his pack down on the coffee table of the elegant townhouse. Kira looked right at home in her tailored clothes. In fact, Kira looked pretty great in general. Whatever she'd been up to clearly agreed with her.

Kira shrugged off her jacket, laying it across the back of the couch before she sat down, crossing her legs. "It's a figure of speech, Nick. A safe house is just a way of labeling the resources Division puts at my fingertips. If you'd rather check in to a hotel…"

"No, this is fine," he cut her off, not wanting to make any waves. "I have to say, I never thought I'd feel safe in any place Division knows about, but this is pretty nice." Maybe it should bother him, but it didn't. Nothing bothered him. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"I do, sit down with me," she patted the seat beside her. "I hate to tell you this, Nick, but you've been Pushed. I don't mean a little tap here or there; your pal Blake screwed you over big time."

Nick's face crumpled in confusion. "What do you mean? I feel fine. I feel… better than fine actually, I feel great. I know you said we had to leave before, but I think if you just listen to what they're accomplishing at the Collective, you might want to think about going back there with me."

"No, I don't," her lips pressed together into a thin smile. "Look at me, Nick." Kira's eyes shimmered, the dark pupil expanding until her eyes held his captive with their

shadowy depths. "Tell me what you remember; walk me through what happened once you got to the Collective," she prompted. All too happy to cooperate, Nick offered a detailed narrative, starting with Cassie's injury. Kira stopped him when he got to the conversation with Blake earlier that week.

"You were all set to leave with Cassie. Now, what did Blake say to you?"

"I didn't want to leave, I love the Collective," his brows drew together into a single dark line. All at once he started to wonder why he'd left there in the first place when he'd been so happy there.

Kira ignored the question, focusing on maintaining her hold over him. "Concentrate, Nick. Think about exactly what Blake did and said to you."

Nick did as he was told, concentrating on the exact sequence of events. He wanted to leave the Collective, he remembered it, but couldn't feel the emotion behind it driving him to want such a crazy thing. He'd gone in to talk to Blake and then…

"_You will stay here with us, you love it here…"_ Blake had said, and it had all fallen into place. And later, _"Cassie has no sway over you any longer, nothing she says or does need concern you in the least."_

"It's all lies, Nick. Nothing Blake told you was true. Ignore any suggestion he ever made to you, no matter how small."

Nick blinked as Kira's eyes shifted back to normal, the sugar coated reality Blake spun for him crumbling with that single command. Revisiting the past week with a new set of eyes, he could clearly see Blake's subterfuge now, and how he'd bought into it hook, line and sinker. _God, how could he have been so stupid!_ Cassie was right; he should never have gone in to talk to Blake that day.

Losing that patina of wellbeing, his alarm at finding himself in a Division safe house with Kira shot through the roof. "Did you Push me?" he balked.

"I did it to help you, Nick," she said evenly, without a trace of guilt.

"Yeah, but…" he couldn't get over the stab of betrayal that she'd been poking around in his head, especially now that she was with Division.

Division.

"Where's Cassie?" he demanded, trying to sift through his broken memory for some clue of where she'd disappeared to. Dimly he recalled that she was in the car on the ride over, but beyond that he had no idea where she'd gone. It sickened him to think he'd treated Cassie like that; _what she must think of him... _

"She's upstairs, but Nick, we should talk…"

Ignoring her attempt to distract him, Nick ran up the stairs two at a time. All at once the sense of urgency he'd been missing returned with a vengeance, and he had to see with his own eyes that she was really okay. That, and hope like hell she forgave him for being such an ass, albeit an unknowing one. "Cassie?" he called out at the top of the stairs, not sure which of the three closed doors to try first. His hand was on the first knob when it swung out of his grasp, and Cassie stood there with a skeptical quirk of the brow.

"Oh, so you can hear me now," her lips twisted into a wry grin.

"Cass… I'm so sorry…" he began, but she didn't let him finish. Hurling herself into his arms, she clung to him fiercely as he buried his face in her hair, savoring the rush of relief that simple contact brought. "So sorry…"

"You're really okay?" her voice barely over a whisper, Nick hated the uncertainty he heard there.

"Yeah, I really am. My head feels like it's been shot through with more holes than swiss cheese, but I'm okay."

Tears glistened in her eyes as she pulled back, a crooked smile shining back at him. "Don't ever do that again!"

"What? Let a psycho Push me into forgetting how much you mean to me? It'll never happen again," he vowed, brushing away the moisture from the tip of her lashes. It was too dangerous to go anywhere near another Pusher, even Kira. While a commune like the Collective sounded good in theory, too many people with power in such close proximity was far too hazardous.

The more he thought about it, the more tempting it was to finish their business with Division and go someplace far away where they never had to worry about being screwed with like that ever again; if such a place existed. While his mind spun endless scenarios, trying to sort out what might be the best next move, Cassie seemed content to let him hold her close, uncharacteristically quiet.

She liked to put up a front, as if nothing got to her, but he knew she must be unsettled on the deepest level after the hell he'd put her through. It felt like there was always something standing in their way, and he wondered how many seconds of peace they could cling to before the next ugly crisis reared its head. Still reeling from too close of a call, Nick had to tell her how much she meant to him before anything else cropped up. "Cassie, I…"

"I know it wasn't your fault, Nick," she sighed into his chest, arms tightening reflexively around him.

"Still, it doesn't make up for the fact that it was a pretty shitty thing to do, and I want you to know that I would move heaven and earth to be with you if it was at all in my power."

"You would?" The crooked grin was back as she looked up with those bright, blue eyes.

"Of course I would. Cassie… it's you and me, you have to know that. When I thought you might die…" he swallowed back the wave of fear just saying the words brought back. "I realized I might never get the chance to…"

"I hate to interrupt this little… whatever it is. But we have to talk." Both heads swiveled to see Kira standing at the top of the stairs, her face unreadable.

Nick bit back the colorful string of curse words that leapt to mind at being interrupted again, but figured it was best to get it all out of the way. Wrapping an arm around Cassie's waist, he turned to face Kira. "Okay, let's talk then."

"I was hoping for a little one on one time," Kira replied, the hint of a smile tilting her lips."

"I don't have anything to say that can't be said in front of Cassie," Nick shrugged.

"What's the matter, Nick; you don't trust me? You don't think I'd try to Push you again, do you?"

The thought had crossed his mind, but Nick held his ground, refusing to drop his gaze and show weakness. "No, I'd rather keep Cassie in the loop. She'd just worm it all out of me later anyways," he dropped her a quick wink. That and he was loathe to let go of her; it felt like he hadn't held her in his arms for a month rather that a week.

"No, it's fine, the two of you can talk alone," Cassie volunteered, surprising him.

"You don't want to come with?" he blinked.

"If she wanted to Push us, she could do it whether I was there or not. I don't mind if you talk to her."

"Are you sure?" The last thing he wanted was a jealous pout from her after he was done talking, and he knew Cassie was capable of it, despite her words to the contrary.

A roll of the eyes was given. "I didn't say go have a quickie with your ex for old times sake, I just don't want to be around to listen to whatever it is she has to say."

If Kira took any offense to that, she showed no sign of it and Nick decided to go with the flow. "Okay. I'll see you in a little bit then. We have a lot of catching up to do," he waggled his brows at her playfully.

"Try groveling," Cassie flashed him a dazzling grin, bright hair bouncing as she left the room with a spring to her step.

Kira shut the door behind her, strolling slowly around the bedroom, her eyes never leaving Nick's. "So, you and Cassie… when did that happen?"

She made him nervous as hell pacing around like that, but he did his best to keep his composure. "Is that really what you want to talk to me about?"

"I have to say I'm not all that surprised. Well… maybe I'm a little surprised it took you this long to admit you have feelings for her. You always did have a bit of an… inappropriate relationship with her as a girl."

Nick bristled at the dig, a little uncomfortable at how close it struck to the truth even now given Cassie's age. Still, he'd never been inappropriate with her when she was still a kid. "It wasn't like that back then and you know it."

"Oh maybe you didn't act on it, but it was always there. I could tell. We might have had a real chance together if she'd never walked into our lives." Kira paused at the window, her face thoughtful.

"Without Cassie, you and I would never have reconnected, remember? She's the one who brought us back together again. Is that what this is about, Kira? After all this time, you want to give it another shot?" Part of him didn't believe it for one second. She'd been the one to leave, and after the pain of the final break up, he'd come to realize it was for the best. Didn't she?

"You have to admit, it's an interesting twist of fate that's brought us back together again."

"No, it was Cassie looking out for me, plain and simple. Look, you have your serum now. I don't think there's anything left for us to talk about."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple."

The way she said it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "You said if we gave you the serum we'd be out. Well, we gave you the serum, now we're out." Nick suppressed the urge to bolt for the door. If she was really intent on keeping him there, the exits would all be blocked anyway.

"That was before your impressive display of skills. Really, did you think you could derail a train like that and no one would notice?" she scoffed.

_Shit._ He'd been so focused on sending a message to Division, he hadn't thought for a moment it might be the _wrong_ message. "And so… what? You think you can recruit me to join Division now?"

"Oh come on, Nick. Think of what a team we could make," her eyes sparkled with excitement as she caught hold of his hands. "We'd be unstoppable!"

"No thanks," he pulled his hands free, more than a little disturbed by her fervor. It was clear she'd given it plenty of thought.

"I can make you want me again," her voice became a sultry purr and Nick forced himself to keep her gaze, hoping his trust wasn't misplaced.

"I don't doubt that you can. But you'll have to live with the knowledge that you Pushed me into it. That's the only way I'd stay with you."

"That hurts, Nick."

"It's the truth."

"You always did pick her over me," she pouted, and Nick shook his head, cutting her off before she worked him up into a full blown argument like she always did.

"Don't start that. You decided you wanted something other than me a long time ago, don't go trying to twist the past, you made your choice and Division won. Pure and simple."

"What if I told you I regretted that choice?"

Nick let out a long, pent up breath. "I'd say… I'm sorry, but that doesn't turn back the clock. What do you want me for, Kira? We had problems even before you left." He hadn't been able to see it at the time, but distance had afforded him clarity.

"I know," she said quietly, her shoulders dipping as she crossed to the bedroom door. "I really did hope you would choose to stay on your own."

"Meaning…?"

"I'm sorry, Nick, I really am. But I have my orders."

"Don't do this, Kira…"

"Don't make me Push you… please. Settle in and get some rest. I'll send up some food later if you like. I can even try and get those cheese fries you like so much. Would you like that?"

"What are you going to do with us?" he pressed, ignoring the stupid offer of food.

"Just you, Nick," she shook her head. "Cassie is of no use to us now."

What was that supposed to mean? All at once his mouth went dry as he equated "no use" with "terminate". "If you hurt her…"

"You really think I'd do that?" He'd managed to shock her and Nick couldn't say he was sorry to see the flicker of pain cross her features at his accusation.

"At this point, I can honestly say I have no idea what you're capable of anymore."

The furrow of upset deepened across her brow. "I would never hurt you, Nick. I'm sorry if you can't see that." Kira opened the door, turning to go.

"I want to talk to Cassie."

"Be my guest, I'll send up cheese fries for two then," the faintest of smiles tugged at the corner of her mouth before the sorrow returned. "But I can't allow you to leave."

**A/N: Dun, dun, dun… Poor Nick and Cassie traded one prison for another. At least they'll be together in this one though, right?**

**Oh, in case anyone is interested, I'm giving away free ebook copies of my vampire novel _Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down_ on Amazon today and tomorrow (possibly Saturday, I haven't decided yet).**

**Feedback is love.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**I'm glad they've got the Collective in their rear view mirror too, guys. We'll see what Kira has up her sleeve…**

"_What if I told you I regretted that choice?"_

_Nick let out a long, pent up breath. "I'd say… I'm sorry, but that doesn't turn back the clock. What do you want me for, Kira? We had problems even before you left." He hadn't been able to see it at the time, but distance had afforded him clarity._

"_I know," she said quietly, her shoulders dipping as she crossed to the bedroom door. "I really did hope you would choose to stay on your own."_

"_Meaning…?" _

"_I'm sorry, Nick, I really am. But I have my orders."_

"_Don't do this, Kira…"_

"_Don't make me Push you… please. Settle in and get some rest. I'll send up some food later if you like. I can even try and get those cheese fries you like so much. Would you like that?"_

"_What are you going to do with us?" he pressed, ignoring the stupid offer of food._

"_Just you, Nick," she shook her head. "Cassie is of no use to us now."_

_What was that supposed to mean? All at once his mouth went dry as he equated "no use" with "terminate". "If you hurt her…"_

"_You really think I'd do that?" He'd managed to shock her and Nick couldn't say he was sorry to see the flicker of pain cross her features at his accusation._

"_At this point, I can honestly say I have no idea what you're capable of anymore."_

_The furrow of upset deepened across her brow. "I would never hurt you, Nick. I'm sorry if you can't see that." Kira opened the door, turning to go._

"_I want to talk to Cassie." _

"_Be my guest, I'll send up cheese fries for two then," the faintest of smiles tugged at the corner of her mouth before the sorrow returned. "But I can't allow you to leave." _

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

I'd never felt so in the dark in all my life.

Sure, I passed it off as if I was totally cool with Nick talking to his ex-lover who just happened to be a Pusher, capable of destroying our lives, but I _so_ was not cool with that.

More than anything I wanted to be up there with my ear pressed up against the door listening in on their conversation. Or better yet, a vision to tell me what to expect from the outcome, but my gift had abandoned me since my brush with death.

I didn't know whether to laugh or throw up. For so long I'd wondered what it would be like to live a normal life. At the same time, I couldn't remember a time when I didn't have the power as a constant companion. Even as a little, little girl I had memories of visions; I thought everyone had them, my mom did. It wasn't until they took her away that I realized the power branded us as freaks of nature. Still, it was the freaky ability I _knew_.

I sat on the couch downstairs, alternating between chewing the non-existent stubs of my fingernails and picking at the liner of Kira's expensive jacket. Once I'd worked a corner free and the lining started to unravel, that took over as my primary focus until the entire hem was ragged and frayed. It was childish, I know, but it took the edge off of my nerves.

I didn't need to be a Watcher to guess what happened when I heard her soft footfall on the stairs. "Let me guess, we're not checking out just yet, are we?"

"You can leave anytime you want," she barely spared me a glance, going straight for the kitchen where she retrieved a bottled water from the fridge without offering me one.

"Without Nick? I'll pass, thanks." I wasn't sure I entirely believed she'd let me go free and clear anyway, and I'd rather stick around where I could keep an eye on her, especially since my wayward gift had me flying blind.

"Did you ever think that maybe you're holding him back?"

"Excuse me?" I blinked in surprise as she blindsided me with that one.

"He could have a real future with Division if he didn't have to devote so much of his time and energy keeping you out of trouble."

"There are so many things wrong with that statement; I don't even know where to begin. You're delusional if you start believing your own press, you know. Nick would never become a part of Division with or without me. He didn't exactly race to join up with you, did he?"

"He'll come around, he always does." The little smirk on her face made me want to knock her head clean off, but instead I held my ground; fingernails making little white half-moons on my palms from clenching my hands so tightly.

"Hey, you're the one who sent me to go find him in that podunk town in Texas in the first place. Why did you send me there if you think I'm so bad for his future?" I demanded, the self-righteous fire turning up a notch.

"Because he needed help I couldn't easily give him without attracting attention." It looked like it was hard for her to admit I'd been able to help him when she couldn't. "But you've managed to attract it anyway, so here we are."

"You think this is my fault?" my voice climbed an octave. "You're the one holding us hostage. If you didn't want to come when I called, you could have stayed away. I would have found another way to get Nick out of there."

Kira's dark eyes narrowed, shooting daggers at me, but thankfully not her power. "Because of _you,_ Nick brought down all kinds of heat from that stunt he pulled at the train. The guy has no self preservation instincts whatsoever where you're involved. If I asked him to take a bullet for you he'd do it in a heartbeat. That isn't sane or healthy."

"I'd do the same for him," I said without flinching, and I meant it too.

"Spare me the Romeo and Juliet crap, okay?" A roll of the eyes was given. "Nick only wants you because you're forbidden fruit. It's the same reason he chased me all over Hong Kong. But we both know the thrill of the chase fades fast once domesticity settles in, and then where will you be? Do yourself a favor and cut out while you can. Otherwise you're just prolonging the inevitable for the both of you, and setting yourselves up for years of misery in the bargain."

"Don't pretend like you know what you're talking about," I snapped. "You might have other people fooled with your tailored suit and the French manicure and stupid shoes, but I know you, Kira. I know all about you trolling for marks on Coney Island. I know you didn't finish the eleventh grade. You and Nick never shut up about the good old days, and the places we stayed had thin walls. Or did you forget about that? Your failed relationship with Nick has nothing to do with him and me. Even you couldn't hold onto him in the end, what does that tell you about your instincts where he's concerned?"

Kira's jaw tightened in anger, and too late I remembered I probably shouldn't be trying to piss off someone who could turn me into a drooling idiot with a single glance. I dropped my gaze to the floor, heart pounding in my ears as I waited to see what she would do next.

"You don't have to avoid looking at me," she said finally, her voice oddly subdued.

It was my turn to roll my eyes, though I admit, the effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that I kept my head down. "You'll pardon me if I don't trust the person who won't let us leave."

"I don't have a choice."

Something in her voice made me look up despite my misgivings, and it was plain to see she really believed that. "There's always a choice. You just made the wrong one."

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

When Cassie didn't immediately reappear at the upstairs bedroom, it filled Nick with nervous apprehension. What if Kira did send her away? What could he do to stop her from Pushing Cass into leaving or worse? He'd just about decided to go down and look for her when the door opened and Nick practically pulled her arm out of the socket in his haste to drag her into his arms "Cassie! Are you okay? She didn't do anything do you, did she?" Pulling back to get a look at her, Nick searched for signs that she felt any differently than the last time he'd seen her.

"Hey, ow… take it easy," she rolled her shoulder a couple of times. "I'm fine. Considering the fact that we're pretty much Division prisoners at this point, I mean. Please tell me Kira didn't brainwash you into thinking Division is a great new career path," her eyes narrowed critically.

"What? No…" He'd been so busy worrying about Cassie being Pushed, he'd given little thought to the idea that she might be worried about the same thing.

"Good, then tell me what the plan is to get out of here," her eyes locked with his.

"I've been wanting to talk to you about that. It's a little hard to plan when I have no idea what she intends to do with us. Can you try to See what her orders are? Are we waiting here to be picked up, or are we staying here for a while?"

"No, I haven't Seen anything since the Collective," she mumbled, turning away from him to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Well, you've been busy. I think if you concentrate on Kira directly, or maybe on me, we'll get a good idea what her plan is."

"I don't think I can do it, Nick. Not now."

"I'll give you some peace and quiet if that's what you need."

"No, that's not it…"

"What do you mean?" his head canted to one side as he studied her slumped shoulders. Everything about her screamed defeat… the exact opposite of what he'd come to expect from Cassie.

"I mean… I haven't gotten any visions since that night on the train," she looked up at him with such misery, his heart clenched in sympathy.

"Oh Cass…" he took a seat beside her on the bed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You can't freak out about it; your visions have always had an agenda of their own. I'm sure they'll come back."

"You don't know that," she sniffed, tears welling. "I've gotten so much better at Watching people, but now… it's like it isn't even there anymore. It's like a part of me is missing." The floodgates opened then and all Nick could do was hold her close until the storm of emotions subsided.

"Try to look on the bright side. At least Division isn't interested in you anymore. Kira said you could leave whenever you want to."

"Are you saying I should go?"

Nick knew he should say yes. He should let her walk out of the safe house and out of his life for a chance at a normal one, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe that made him selfish, but he didn't think he could live without Cassie. Survive maybe, but not live. "No, I don't think you should leave, not until we can both walk out of here together." Feeling her relax in his arms, he knew he'd made the right choice.

"I say we make a break for it. You can Move anyone who gets in our path and this time we'll keep on running."

_If only it were that easy…_ "Even Kira?" He wasn't sure if he could attack her like that, even now that she'd obviously put the needs of Division over his.

"Especially Kira," he thought he heard her grumble, and Nick kissed the top of her head, his laugh rumbling deep in his chest.

"Let's get some sleep, we can figure out what to do in the morning. If it comes down to it… we'll fight our way out of here, but unless you feel like a side trip back to see Annabelle at the Collective, I'd like to do it with the minimum of violence."

"Eewh, no thanks," her nose wrinkled delicately in distaste. "I'm all for not getting shot again and staying far away from that place. Am I staying in here with you tonight then or did Kira say anything about a separate cell for me?"

Nick lay on the bed, tumbling her down beside him. "I'd like to see her try to pry you away from my side," he grinned, pulling her into his embrace. Cassie went willingly, snuggling up to his side, where she belonged. An easy twitch of the finger and he turned the lights off from the convenience of the bed, but there was still enough light streaming in through the window to let him see the curves of her face. Despite the fatigue that seeped into his bones, he didn't drift off right away; it was too pleasant to hold her in his arms.

"What about my goodnight kiss?" dark lashes blinked at him over innocent blue eyes.

"One goodnight kiss coming up," he smiled, leaning down to brush his lips over hers in a thorough, but chaste kiss.

"Actually, it's been a while since, I think you owe me a few more than that," her lips pursed in speculation before they chased after his, demanding more. A flicker of doubt swept through him before Nick gave in, lost to the temptation of her sweet mouth and soft yielding flesh that clung to him in just the right way. On and on it went, the only sound in the room their ragged breathing as they each fought to reach bare skin, gasping with delight at each newly revealed bounty.

They were each more than halfway undressed when Nick recovered a shred of will power. "Cass… wait… we need to slow down," his hands clamped on her hips to still them from driving him insane with want.

"I thought you said you didn't have that little problem," she reached for him and Nick bit back a groan as her slender fingers tortured him with pleasure.

"Not here, not like this."

Cassie let go of him to brush her hair over to one side. "Then where and when? Because in case you haven't noticed, this is what our life is like now. If I'm not waiting for some scented boudoir with satin sheets and rose petals, then why should you?"

"Because I _want_ to give that to you. You deserve it."

"I don't care about any of that. I'm tired of waiting for someday, Nick. I'm not a child…"

"I know you're not, trust me. That's not what this is about." Well, in part it was… he couldn't get over that one little fact… no matter how adult her mind or body was, technically Cassie was still underage.

"Then what is it about?"

"This is about doing things right." That's what he kept telling himself anyway.

"I'll walk you through it, you'll be fine," she leaned down to catch the lobe of his ear into her mouth with her teeth.

"God, you're making this hard…"

"That's the whole idea," she giggled.

"Cassie," he bit out more sharply than he'd meant to, immediately regretting it when he saw a flicker of distress twist her lovely features. "Why are you in such a rush?"

Cassie rolled off of him, propping herself up on her elbow. "How can you seriously ask me that after everything we've been through?"

"Exactly, there will always be something or someone in our way, so there's no need to jump into anything physical."

"I'm not jumping into bed with you because I have an itch I need scratching," she scowled and he knew he had to find another way of putting it.

"I need to know that when we do this, there won't be any regrets," he tried again.

"Regrets? I happen to love you, moron!" she shoved at his chest.

"Well I love you too, and I don't want to screw this up!" he threw back at her.

"Fine!"

"Great!"

"Then why are we yelling?"

"I don't…" Nick forced himself to lower his voice, letting out a long breath. "It's just sex, Cassie. Anyone can have sex. It doesn't compare to how much I love you and that makes it worth it to me to wait. Can you understand that?"

Cassie was silent for long seconds, and Nick worried she really didn't understand his point of view at all. "Yeah," she capitulated finally. "I still think you're being an idiot about it, but okay, we'll wait if you want to."

"Good," his arms settled more comfortably around her, eyes falling closed again as he pulled her close. "Good," he repeated, more relieved than he could express that they were finally both on the same page again. "Good night, Cassie," he sighed.

"G'night, Nick," she yawned with a little squeak. "Love you…"

"Love you too," he murmured, clinging to that perfect moment. He was just on the edge of falling asleep when he felt her breath on his neck.

"Nick?"

"Hmm."

"Just because we're waiting for the big moment, that doesn't mean we can't do other stuff, does it?" Her tongue laved against the hollow behind his ear, her leg wrapping lithely around his, and that was all it took to have him hard as a rock again, a fact she seemed blissfully aware of as she cuddled against him in just the right spot.

"Goodnight Cass," he bit out between clenched teeth. Her laughter floated back to him in the darkened room.

_It was going to be a long night._

**A/N: So… a little bit of fireworks between Nick and Cassie there, but he's still being stubborn. I wonder how long it'll last?**

**It's really easy to vilify Kira, her bitchiness lends itself to that, and I don't personally like her character. Instead I chose to round her out a little with some hidden motives and vulnerabilities, I hope you like what I've done there. In the end this is Cassie and Nick's story though, and my main focus will remain there. **

**Feedback is love.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Here's where we kick things up a notch…**

"_I'm not jumping into bed with you because I have an itch I need scratching," she scowled, and he knew he had to find another way of putting it._

"_I need to know that when we do this, there won't be any regrets," he tried again._

"_Regrets? I happen to love you, moron!" she shoved at his chest._

"_Well I love you too, and I don't want to screw this up!" he threw back at her._

"_Fine!"_

"_Great!"_

"_Then why are we yelling?"_

"_I don't…" Nick forced himself to lower his voice, letting out a long breath. "It's just sex, Cassie. Anyone can have sex. It doesn't compare to how much I love you and that makes it worth it to me to wait. Can you understand that?"_

_Cassie was silent for long seconds, and Nick worried she really didn't understand his point of view at all. "Yeah," she capitulated finally. "I still think you're being an idiot about it, but okay, we'll wait if you want to."_

"_Good," his arms settled more comfortably around her, eyes falling closed again as he pulled her close. "Good," he repeated, more relieved than he could express that they were finally both on the same page again. "Good night, Cassie," he sighed._

"_G'night, Nick," she yawned with a little squeak. "Love you…"_

"_Love you too," he murmured, clinging to that perfect moment. He was just on the edge of falling asleep when he felt her breath on his neck._

"_Nick?"_

"_Hmm."_

"_Just because we're waiting for the big moment, that doesn't mean we can't do other stuff, does it?" Her tongue laved against the hollow behind his ear, her leg wrapping lithely around his, and that was all it took to have him hard as a rock again, a fact she seemed blissfully aware of as she cuddled against him in just the right spot._

"_Goodnight Cass," he bit out between clenched teeth. Her laughter floated back to him in the darkened room. _

_It was going to be a long night. _

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

Kira opened the blinds with relish, taking no pains to be quiet about it. "Rise and shine, lovebirds. Time to fly," she sang out cheerily.

"Tell me again why we need to get up early in jail?" I grumbled, cracking my eyes open a fraction, making no move to leave the warmth and security of the bed, especially with Nick curved around me protectively.

"Because if you cooperate, I may be able to let you out on good behavior," she returned with a secretive smile that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"Wha?" Nick stared blearily, his face creased from pressing up against the pillow so hard.

"Duty calls," Kira replied. "I have a job for you."

"I don't work for you," he scowled, laying his head back down and I followed suit, closing my eyes, pretending to ignore Kira, but she didn't take the hint.

"Do this for me and I'll see what I can do to set you free."

I felt Nick stir behind me, his head popping up again. "Is that something you can promise or are you just jerking us around?"

"I've pitched the idea that you'd be more effective if you worked in more of a… freelance capacity instead of a fully indoctrinated Division employee. It's currently under advisement, but if you prove useful and stay in touch, I think we might be able to pull it off."

"That's assuming I have any interest in working for Division at all, which I don't," he reminded her.

"You don't even know what the job is."

"I can pretty much guarantee I still won't want to do it."

"What's the matter, Nick? Are you afraid you might come to like it?" her lips curved into a smug smile.

"What is the job?" I asked, realizing we were going around in circles with no end in sight.

"I need to deliver the serum back to the Division labs in LA."

"What do you need us for, then?" I shrugged. "That sounds right up your alley. Just hop into your private plane and fly away home." She had to be leaving something out.

"_You_, I don't need," she smiled sweetly. "But Nick," her eyes swept over him, and I thought I saw a little bit of longing there. "I need you strictly for protection."

"What makes you think I won't let someone get the drop on you?" His voice betrayed no emotion and I almost believed him. Except for the fact that I knew he'd sooner catch a bullet himself than let anyone else get hurt, even Kira. Or maybe especially Kira.

"The Nick I know would never let that happen," she challenged him.

"The Nick you know changed when you left." His arm tightened around my waist.

This was _so_ not where I wanted to be… I cleared my throat, reminding them of my presence before he accidentally strangled me. "So, we do this one job for you and then we're free to go until you come up with another job sometime in the future?"

"If everything goes according to plan."

"Yeah, because that happens so often…" I muttered. "Fine, then I'm coming too."

"The hell you are." Nick let go of me completely, rolling me onto my back and I could see how much the idea bothered him. Well tough, the idea of him going alone with her bothered me more.

"I'm not letting you jet off to God knows where with her…" I might have said more, but the words fell away as a vision took hold of me, completely overwhelming my senses. Dimly, I was aware that they bickered over whether or not I should be allowed to come. I might have thought it strange that Kira took my side of the argument, except for being almost completely overwhelmed by the glorious Technicolor, surround sound experience of my first honest to goodness vision in far too long.

"I'm there with you," I murmured, Watching as Nick easily deflected a barrage of gunfire as we stepped off of a private plane.

"Saying it doesn't make it true," Nick scowled, and I scooted out from under his arm, sitting up.

"No, you don't understand. I SAW me there with you!" I all but hopped up and down with enthusiasm as I waited for them to clue in to what that meant.

"Yeah?" Nick's face split into a wide grin as he caught on to my excitement, catching me up into a big bear hug. "See? What did I tell ya? I knew you still had it in you."

"Shit," Kira's face clouded with worry; only I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "That… changes things."

"In a good way, now you know what you're stepping into," I pointed out. Not that I was thrilled at the prospect of doing _anything_ for Division, but the sooner we got the serum delivered, the sooner Nick and I could disappear. "We can't land at the airport you have planned, by the way; they're already expecting us there."

"Who is?"

"One of the clans with plenty of firepower," I shrugged. I had no idea which one; I hadn't recognized anyone there. Then again, I'd never been to LA before either.

"Fine, then we'll divert to another one."

"No wait…" Nick snapped his fingers, his face drawn into pensive consideration. "I think we can make this work for us…"

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

"I think you're going a little overboard on this, don't you think?" Cassie scowled, while Nick tightened the buckles on the flak vest that practically dwarfed her torso.

"The only way I'm letting you go anywhere near the ambush we're walking into is if you take certain precautions. I don't want you going in there unprotected."

"I thought that's why you're going along, for protection."

"And we both know that all it takes is for one bullet to slip through my defenses and it's all over for both of us." Satisfied he had it as secure as it was going to get, he stood back to admire the overall effect. Cassie looked cute in head to toe black tactical gear, the only hint of her personality, the bright pink scrunchie pulling back her hair under the black cap and the fluorescent green laces on her new black Converse high tops.

"For one of us at least."

"For the both of us," he corrected her gently, tipping her face up by the chin. "If anything happened to you…"

"Fine, then you wear a vest too," she declared with a stubborn tilt of the head.

"Me?"

"Yeah, why not? Don't you think I'd be equally devastated if you didn't make it back from this fiasco? If I need a vest, and all this crap, then you do too."

"Okay, okay. Christ, what a sight we'll make strolling into the airport, all dressed up like commandos," he grinned.

"I'm sure Kira will arrange for us to be picked up at a private airfield. And if anyone so much as blinks an eye she'll turn their thoughts to scrambled eggs," Cassie replied, making light, but Nick could see she wasn't at all comfortable to be working with Kira. Whether that was because of her Push or the fact that she was his ex remained to be seen.

"That's true, otherwise there's no way they'd let us get these babies anywhere near an airplane," he patted the pair of sleek black pistols on the table, part of the arsenal Kira had delivered along with his request of the bullet proof vest for Cassie. "Are you clear on what you're supposed to do?"

"Yeah, for the zillionth time, I've got it down," a roll of the eyes was given. "Don't worry about me, worry about Miss Trouble. She's the wildcard in this situation. I know you think we can trust her Nick, but I gotta tell you, I have a bad feeling about this."

As much as he thought she was overreacting to Kira, Nick couldn't ignore her instincts completely. "Did you have another vision? Does she do something to double cross us?"

"Does it have to be a vision? Can't I just say I don't trust her and leave it at that?"

"Aw Cass, come here," Nick pulled her into a bear hug, made slightly awkward by her bulky vest. "I know you don't trust her, and to be honest, I don't trust her like I used to either. But we're walking into this situation with our eyes wide open, and hopefully… by the time we get to the other side, we'll be free to live our lives however we want to."

"That sounds nice," Cassie's voice was muffled against his chest, but he kept holding on to her. "Where do you think we should go?"

"Let's not over think it. The looser we stay with our plans, the easier it'll be to adapt them, okay?"

"Okay, I trust you, Nick," she met his gaze with absolute faith in her clear, blue eyes and he just hoped he could live up to it.

*cue the music* You guys can hear it too, can't you? When the plan gets put into motion?

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

We touched down in the middle of the afternoon, the private terminal affording us a wide open runway with a series of hangars in the distance. One of those baggage handling carts and a black limousine were the only signs that we were expected at all.

Kira sat with her back very straight in one of her tailored suits, a hard, silver briefcase holding the serum perched on her lap. I wasn't sure if it was a fashion statement or some kind of message to Nick that she trusted him to protect her. Nick wore a bulletproof vest over his normal clothes, a pair of guns tucked into the back of his jeans, and I have to say… it was kinda hot. I half expected him to start giving us hand signals and talking in code from how into the plan he was, but the second he caught my eye he dropped a brief wink and I saw my Nick smiling back at me.

I was the only one that looked like a miniature black ops reject, but I was getting into the role. I winked back, keeping my face as serious as I could while we all prepared to get our asses shot off. Keeping my bag slung over my shoulder like a security blanket, my hand clenched around my gun so tightly my fingers began to ache. A set of plastic earplugs tickled my neck every time I turned my head, at the ready in case Bleeders showed up to try and take the case. As the co-pilot unfastened the heavy door, we all jumped when the automatic stairs hit the ground with a metallic thump.

"Ready ladies?" Nick took point, darting a quick look outside.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I muttered, even as Kira nodded shortly.

"Stick close to me, and remember the plan." Nick took the first steps out of the plane; eyes darting to the baggage cart, where we knew the first attack would come from.

At some unseen signal, three baggage handlers popped up brandishing fully automatic machine guns, all wearing goggles with an iridescent reflective coating. It took everything I had not to dive for cover, trusting Nick to keep me safe, and he was on it. The bullets bounced away harmlessly in a shower of rainbow colored sparks about three feet away from me. Maintaining the shield with ease, Nick waved and the guns flew out of their hands, falling with a clatter at his feet as he raised a single brow in challenge. If that was the best they had, it would be a lot easier than we'd thought.

Too fast for the naked eye to follow at first, a short, wiry guy with a shock of curly orange hair appeared a few feet in front of us and disappeared just as quickly with a curious popping sound as he displaced the air.

A Porter.

I'd heard about people with the ability to teleport, but I'd never seen one up close. Not that I was seeing him then, he moved too fast for us to track, rapidly teleporting from place to place, little more than a distraction, he hadn't actually done anything… yet.

Still, it was enough to make Kira nervous. "Nick… do something about that guy," she demanded, eyes wary as she stopped in her tracks.

"He's moving too fast, I can't catch hold of him," Nick scowled, trying to look everywhere at once. Another wave of gunfire erupted, further distracting him, and he looked down to see the guns were gone, snatched away by the Porter in an instant. "Cass, you stay behind me," he cautioned, once again focused on maintaining his shields.

"I think we should make a run for the limo," Kira took a half step towards the car. I turned to face her, just in time to see the Porter materialize behind her. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he snatched her away, her scream oddly cut off as she disappeared into thin air.

"Shit…" Nick hissed, sending the gunmen back with a powerful shove that sent them flying through the air. The victory was short lived as three yellow Hummers lit towards us from one of the hangars at high speed. "I have a bad feeling about this…"

A part of me could have cared less that they'd taken Kira, but they didn't call off the attack once they had her and the serum. Besides, though I wanted her to go away, that didn't mean I wanted her to be tortured or worse at the hands of the rival clan. At that point, I didn't know if the enemy of my enemy was my friend or just a bigger enemy.

Nick stepped back beside me, attention split between the approaching vehicles and the inert forms of the gunmen. "Cassie, come on, we have to stick to the plan, let's get moving. We don't know how long it'll be before that guy comes back and I don't want him taking you too."

"No, wait." We hadn't planned on a Porter and I knew I had to stop and focus, running wouldn't do us a whole lot of good in unfamiliar territory and we didn't know what else might come out of that hangar to block our escape. Trusting Nick to keep me safe, I closed my eyes, focusing on Kira. Now that my gift was back, I had no trouble finding her, the short scene that unfolded in my mind's eye confirming my fears. "Nick, they have a Whisper guiding them from inside that hangar bay," I gasped at the realization. No wonder they all moved as one, they were all linked telepathically by a woman calling the shots inside. "They don't want to kill us, they're ordered to take us down, but there's a Stitch standing by to heal any collateral damage. They have their own Pusher, they want to convert us."

"And Kira?"

"She doesn't have a whole lot of time; she's been drugged to keep her docile. They won't be gentle with her to get what they want."

"Shit…" Nick rubbed the back of his neck as he paced, clearly torn between responsibilities.

"And Nick?" I met his gaze. "These guys make Division look like the Cub Scouts."

"Okay," he nodded, coming to a decision. "New plan…"

**A/N: Boy, bad guys abound! But it's a dangerous world they live in, and it can't be hearts and flowers all the time. **

**Feedback is love.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Bam. Another chapter. Oh yes I did…**

"_I think we should make a run for the limo," Kira took a half step towards the car. I turned to face her, just in time to see the Porter materialize behind her. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he snatched her away, her scream oddly cut off as she disappeared into thin air. _

"_Shit…" Nick hissed, sending the gunmen back with a powerful shove that sent them flying through the air. The victory was short lived as three yellow Hummers lit towards us from one of the hangars at high speed. "I have a bad feeling about this…" _

_A part of me could have cared less that they'd taken Kira, but they didn't call off the attack once they had her and the serum. Besides, though I wanted her to go away, that didn't mean I wanted her to be tortured or worse at the hands of the rival clan. At that point, I didn't know if the enemy of my enemy was my friend or just a bigger enemy. _

_Nick stepped back beside me, attention split between the approaching vehicles and the inert forms of the gunmen. "Cassie, come on, we have to stick to the plan, let's get moving. We don't know how long it'll be before that guy comes back and I don't want him taking you too."_

"_No, wait." We hadn't planned on a Porter and I knew I had to stop and focus, running wouldn't do us a whole lot of good in unfamiliar territory and we didn't know what else might come out of that hangar to block our escape. Trusting Nick to keep me safe, I closed my eyes, focusing on Kira. Now that my gift was back, I had no trouble finding her, the short scene that unfolded in my mind's eye confirming my fears. "Nick, they have a Whisper guiding them from inside that hangar bay," I gasped at the realization. No wonder they all moved as one, they were all linked telepathically by a woman calling the shots inside. "They don't want to kill us, they're ordered to take us down, but there's a Stitch standing by to heal any collateral damage. They have their own Pusher, they want to convert us." _

"_And Kira?"_

"_She doesn't have a whole lot of time; she's been drugged to keep her docile. They won't be gentle with her to get what they want."_

"_Shit…" Nick rubbed the back of his neck as he paced, clearly torn between responsibilities._

"_And Nick?" I met his gaze. "These guys make Division look like the Cub Scouts."_

"_Okay," he nodded, coming to a decision. "New plan…"_

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

"I still think this is a stupid idea," Cassie muttered, and Nick couldn't really blame her. It was his idea to surrender; his logic being that they wanted to get into the hangar and that seemed the fastest way to do it. If everything went to plan, he'd find out a little more about the new faction, other than the fact that they were definitely on goal to give Division a run for their money in the bad guy department, and he wanted to learn all he could about them before they made their escape.

"Just relax, I can handle it."

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who's gonna end up with her head rifled through."

Nick shot her a quelling look and she fell silent, slumping lower in the seat, face sullen. The hangar approached with alarming speed as the yellow Hummer hurtled towards it. The two henchmen that drove them showed little interest in their conversation, both sitting facing forward, both wearing the same type of iridescent goggles and Nick wondered if they were designed to offer some protection against Kira's Push? Why else the need for goggles in the cool, California air?

Only the car they were in entered the hangar bay, the massive door rolling closed after they were admitted. The hangar itself was largely empty, except for a pair of black Jeeps parked near an office at the rear and a few wooden crates stacked nearby. The red-haired Porter sat cross legged atop one of the crates, talking to a pair of generic thugs and a pretty blonde, the only person in the room besides them who was goggle free. Through the large window, Nick could see Kira inside the office, a dark skinned man in a purple suit bent over her.

"Out," barked the driver as soon as the Hummer was put into park.

"Keep it warm for me, Jeeves. I won't be long," Cassie threw out loftily, sliding out onto the ground. Nick was quick to follow, feeling better once he was on the same side of the car she stood on.

The man in purple strolled out of the office, casual as they come. "So, this is the famous Nick Gant and Cassie Holmes. It's an honor to meet you."

Nick kept himself between the guy and Cassie, was this their Pusher? "I wish I could say the same, but I have no idea who the hell you are and why you've brought us here."

"Sorry, I forget you're new to the hood," he smiled wide, revealing a mouthful of even, white teeth. "I'm Jethro, you've already met Hank and Tatiana."

"No, I don't think I've had the pleasure," Nick smiled at the lovely blonde, practically feeling Cassie's scowl despite the fact that she stood behind him.

"Ah, but she has. In the moments since you've been standing here, she's on far more intimate terms with you than we could be after a month of conversation. Aren't you, Angel?"

Tatiana nodded, her attention focused wholly on Nick.

"What's with the goggles, is there a Devo concert later?" Cassie piped up, and Jethro laughed heartily.

"They are the latest in defense against all manner of psychic attacks, quite ingenious really. Even Division doesn't have anything like it yet."

"No shit?" Cassie's eyes flew wide and Nick could see the wheels turning in her head.

"Shit," Jethro replied, crossing his heart with two fingers.

"Well, how about you share a pair as a sign of good faith?" Cassie licked her lips almost hungrily as she fixated on a pair of them. "All we want is to join you and fight the good fight."

"That's a lie," Tatiana called out, her voice slightly accented with a Slavic lilt.

"Hey, who asked you?" Cassie scowled. "Everybody knows we hate Division more than anyone."

"She wants you to trust her, but she intends to escape," the telepath reported and Cassie shot her a murderous glare.

"Stay out of my head!"

"What do you want from us exactly?" Nick interjected, ignoring the pair for the time being, glad to see Jethro do the same.

"It's not what you can do for us; it's what we can do for you. As you can see, we can offer valuable protection. It should be just what you need to take down Division," his dark eyes glittered with excitement.

That was the last thing he'd expected them to say. "Who says we want to take down Division?"

"Don't you?"

In a perfect world, yes. But Nick wasn't convinced it could be easily done, and it wasn't worth it to him to risk those he loved in the process. "What about Kira?"

"Kira Hudson has been on our hit list for a very long time. I'm sure you are intimately aware of some of the atrocities she's committed. She's slated to be… repurposed."

"You mean brainwashed."

"If the Push fits," Jethro grinned.

"Hey, if you're neutering Kira, sign me up, goggles or not," Cassie volunteered and Nick shot her a warning look.

"Cassie!"

"I'm serious, Nick. I can't stand her butting her way into our lives at every turn."

"She speaks the truth," Tatiana reported.

Hoping to nip that thought in the bud, Nick took control of the conversation again. "I'm not saying I'm on board with doing _anything_ to Kira, but if we were going to take Division down, what are you proposing?"

"A full scale military-grade attack. With our skills and your power, we can mow our way through their defenses. Just think of it, Nick," his voice fell to a dramatic hush. "In one fell swoop, we could liberate everyone from their dominion. Completely crush their chokehold on our kind. With the serum in hand, we'll become so powerful; Division will never be able to take control again."

Cassie's words came back to haunt him from their brief argument before the surrender. Was the enemy of his enemy his friend or just another enemy? Replacing Division with someone else wasn't necessarily a step in the right direction. "That's what you want, to dismantle their organization? Or to step in and take it over?"

"I admit, someone would need to fill the vacuum of power," Jethro admitted. "But under a kinder regime. One designed to protect us, not exploit us."

"I say we do it," Cassie nodded enthusiastically.

"What?" Nick blinked.

"No matter what they have planned, they can't be worse than Division, right? I say we stop running and fight. Make those fuckers pay for what they've stolen from us," her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"She's lying, she's up to something," Tatiana's brow furrowed in concentration.

"If you don't get out of my head…"

"She wants to escape above all else. She can not be yoked to serve under any authority."

"I swear to God, I'm gonna…"

"She is thinking about her mother languishing under Division control. She doesn't care about liberating anyone else now that she's gone," Tatiana finished smugly.

"Don't you talk about my mother!" Cassie screamed, fist flying out to catch the telepath squarely across the jaw before collapsing into a small ball as she tucked her head down.

That was the signal.

A shower of broken glass pierced the air as Nick exploded all of the windows in the office. Focusing his next attack in the wake of that distraction against the Porter before he had a chance to hop away, Nick caught him easily that time. The little man's body flopped like a rag doll up to the ceiling, crashing against it violently before Nick flung him down among the crates. He didn't know what Jethro could do, that made him the next target, and Nick tossed him and the other thugs in the room against the far wall.

Cassie scrambled across the floor like a crab, picking up discarded goggles, tugging them on before tossing a pair to Nick. Catching them deftly in the air, Nick spared a few seconds to don them; blinking against the odd quality of the light once he had them on. There was supposed to be a Pusher on the premises, and for the first time ever, he felt good about going up against them. But when they got to the office, there was no one there besides Kira, sprawled across a scarred armchair.

"Through there, he took the serum!" Cassie pointed to the single door.

"Don't worry about it," Nick gathered Kira into his arms, not liking the pallor of her skin. "We have to worry about getting ourselves out of here."

"But Nick…"

"No time for that now, let's go!"

Nick all but tossed Kira into the back seat of the Hummer, the keys he'd deftly snatched earlier bringing the engine roaring to life as Cassie hopped in by his side. The henchmen were starting to recover from the fall now, and Nick gunned it, pedal to the metal as he rocketed towards the hangar entrance.

"Nick, the door…"

"Leave it to me…" With a focused blast of power, Nick bent the huge door away from its hinges with a screech of rending metal, leaving just enough room for them to squeeze through before bending it back, effectively trapping them inside the hangar.

"Jesus Christ, Nick… you keep doing things like that, everyone on the planet is gonna be after you," Cassie breathed in wonder.

"I thought they already were," Nick grinned back, his adrenaline riding high.

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

It was hard not to keep looking behind us, but it sure looked like we'd gotten away scot free. Despite Nick's confidence in the plan, I couldn't believe we'd actually managed to pull it off, and I couldn't make myself relax in the passenger's seat.

"Check on Kira, would you?" Nick darted a quick look back over his shoulder. "I'd like to know where to take her, unless you've Seen where we're supposed to go to?"

"We could always just drop her off at the nearest hospital," I suggested hopefully, but I didn't really think he'd go for it. "She's still out cold; whatever they doped her up with must have been strong. Hold on a sec, let me see if I can pick anything up." Pushing the goggles to rest atop my head, I did my best to clear my thoughts, focusing on Kira, but I didn't pick up anything helpful. "All I'm getting is this stupid tree overlooking the water. I have no idea where it is or what it has to do with anything. Maybe she lives somewhere near the tree… I'm just grasping at straws here." I took off the black cap, flinging it into the back seat in frustration.

"It's okay. We'll just find someplace to lay low for a while and figure out what our next move will be," Nick's hand was warm on my leg as he patted me soothingly.

Peeling off the vest, I tried to get more comfortable since we'd be spending some time in the Hummer from the look of things. "So, we're in LA with not one but two dangerous organizations after us, and your ex passed out in the back of our stolen vehicle. Wanna get some chilidogs? I'm starving."

Nick's resulting laugh made me grin like a fool; God how I loved him… "Actually I'm kinda hungry myself. How about we find a drive-through and take a little break?"

"I saw a Weinerschnitzel not too far back."

"I wondered where the chilidogs idea came from." Nick obediently turned the car around, "Where am I headed?"

"There," I pointed. "Red sloped roof… that's gotta be it, right?"

It's amazing how something so simple like good, greasy fast food restores the soul. A half an hour later, with a belly full of way too many chilidogs and a frosty chocolate milkshake in hand, the horror of the day had subsided to a distant memory as I watched Nick pore over a street map, muttering to himself in an adorably clueless fashion.

"I think if we get on the freeway here, it's our best bet out of the city. Then we can head south and regroup."

"Why not stay in the city?" I suggested, glad to be lost in the shuffle once more. "Seems like it's easier to hide in plain sight here, especially in a big eyesore like this baby," I tapped the dashboard with my foot.

"What's going on?" Kira's drowsy voice drifted up from the backseat, and everything else was put on hold while Nick fussed over her, offering cold water and basically hanging on her every word until she sat up on her own and professed to be woozy but alright. "What happened?"

"Cassie got a vision of what they had in store for you and we devised a way to get you out." Nick filled her in on what she'd missed with Jethro and his crew while I listened with growing worry. Since when did he try to do anything to help Division out? Still, I could understand siding with the monster we knew rather than the dangerous newcomer from the sound of Jethro's agenda. "They were so busy trying to keep up with the lies Cassie kept telling, they didn't know what hit 'em when we busted you out of there." Nick's plan had been a good one; it wouldn't have worked with a Reader, but a telepath could only pick up surface thoughts.

"Literally. Nick tore through a metal hangar door like it was made of tissue paper," I couldn't help but brag a little on his account.

"Wow, that's impressive," Kira looked suitably awed before her dark eyes lit upon mine. "How come you didn't just leave me behind?"

"I admit, the thought did cross my mind," I teased. "But if anyone's going to torture and kill you, I thought you'd rather it be someone you know," I smiled sweetly.

"Gee thanks," a roll of the eyes was given, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

"That's my girl, the soul of courtesy," Nick winked at me. "We went into this as a team, we came through the other side as a team. It's as simple as that."

"I'm thankful for that then," she sighed. "I might have been tempted to eliminate the competition."

"We're not in competition for anything anymore, Kira," I met her gaze evenly. "I thought you realized that by now."

"I think I'm starting to," she murmured thoughtfully. "Where's the case?"

It took me a second to switch gears, and I knew she wouldn't be happy to hear about it. "Yeah, about that," I caught my bottom lip between my teeth, "their Pusher got away with it. Sorry, it was either go after it, or get you out of there."

"It's okay, that wasn't the serum," Kira waved away my distress.

"Then why…?"

"I'm sorry. I had to keep part of the plan from you in order to make it work. You had to believe there was something valuable for them to steal in order to sell it."

"Did you know about this?" I whirled, and from the look on Nick's face, I could tell he did.

"She's right; we needed you to believe it was in the case."

"So where's the actual syringe?"

"It's gone," Kira replied. "I disposed of the serum myself; it was the only way ensure it didn't fall into the wrong hands. Division already has the formula; this has always been about keeping it from the other clans."

I stared at both of them, at a complete loss for words until my synapses started firing again and I recovered the power of speech. "Then why the hell did we just walk into that ambush if we're not delivering the serum to your stupid lab?"

Nick picked up my hand, holding it in his. "Because that's not where we're going. Kira is going to take you to see your mother."

**A/N: Dun, dun, dun… So, what do you think of the action, is Division the lesser of two evils now? Especially given the real reason for the trip to California?**

**Feedback is love.**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**To answer a question: No, Cassie's mom wasn't dead, Cassie just presumed she was before when she lost Sight of her. We'll find out what happened to her next…**

"_It's okay, that wasn't the serum," Kira waved away my distress._

"_Then why…?"_

"_I'm sorry. I had to keep part of the plan from you in order to make it work. You had to believe there was something valuable for them to steal in order to sell it." _

"_Did you know about this?" I whirled, and from the look on Nick's face, I could tell he did._

"_She's right; we needed you to believe it was in the case."_

"_So where's the actual syringe?"_

"_It's gone," Kira replied. "I disposed of the serum myself; it was the only way ensure it didn't fall into the wrong hands. Division already has the formula; this has always been about keeping it from the other clans."_

_I stared at both of them, at a complete loss for words until my synapses started firing again and I recovered the power of speech. "Then why the hell did we just walk into that ambush if we're not delivering the serum to your stupid lab?"_

_Nick picked up my hand, holding it in his. "Because that's not where we're going. Kira is going to take you to see your mother." _

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

My mother.

I'd assumed she was dead since I hadn't Seen anything about her in months, I was almost afraid to believe I'd see her in the flesh in just a few short minutes. A little disturbing was the idea that Nick kept secrets from me, particularly with Kira, but I supposed I could understand his motivation. Besides, I could hardly argue with the results. All the same, I reserved the right to teach him a lesson for not leveling with me sometime in the future.

With Kira giving directions, we pulled onto a less traveled, winding road that followed the coast until we came upon a large Spanish styled property with red tiled roofs and white-washed curved arches. Even before we came to park in front of the main structure, I saw the tree overlooking the water; the same tree from my vision about Kira.

"I want you to be prepared for what you see," she said gently, and that's when I knew it had to be bad. Kira was never gentle with me, not even when I'd been sick with a fever of a hundred and three degrees.

"What do you mean?"

"They tried a variation of the serum on her."

"What? Why?" My mother was undeniably the strongest Watcher anyone had ever seen, why the need to try and boost her abilities? A string of curses in every language I knew slipped out under my breath as I damned Division every way I knew how for being greedy. Wasn't it enough that they'd stolen her from me in the first place?

"To be fair, they had already had some successes with the improved serum, so they really did think it was safe to use on her."

I didn't like the sound of that one bit. "I want to see her, now." Already half out of the car, I strode up to the huge wooden door, banded with decorative iron touches. I didn't care if we were supposed to knock or if there was a security system, I reached for the handle, pulling with all of my might until the heavy door swing open with Nick and Kira hot on my heels.

"To your left," Kira called out softly, and I took off running down the terracotta tiles, operating on pure instinct until I came to the last door at the end of the hall, a small handwritten name on the wall telling me I had the right room.

Without waiting for them to catch up, I pushed the door open, a wave of unbelievable giddiness mixed with anguish over all the time we'd missed bringing the sting of tears to my eyes as I rushed to her side. "Mom!" I half laughed, half cried, reaching for her pale hand. She was so still; only the reassuring beep of the monitor by the side of the bed told me she was alive. The skin on the back of her hand was thin enough to see blue veins in a spidery pattern underneath, and she gave no sign that she heard me as I squeezed it gently. "Mom?"

I felt Nick sit behind me on the side of the bed, and I drew a measure of comfort from his hand on my shoulder. "What happened to her?"

Kira came to stand by the bedside table, pulling a sheaf of papers from the drawer. "The serum made her… unstable. She spent more time in visions than in the real world. So much that we couldn't get what she was seeing most of the time." She handed over the stack of papers that held sketch after sketch, most of them unrecognizable, nearly all of them violent. Upon closer scrutiny, some did resemble Nick and me in various places; at the motel room in Texas, at the train. "In the end, the decision was made to keep her sedated for her own safety."

"So, she's only sedated now?" I brightened as an idea took hold. "Then we could take her away and she'd come out of it eventually, right?"

"It's not that simple. She's been under for so long; she's slipped into a medically induced coma."

"Well can't you bring her out of it?" Nick's hand tightened on my shoulder and I had my answer. How long had he known my mother was a vegetable? Why hadn't he said anything? "Jesus Christ, then why did you bring me out here? Do you think this is how I want to remember her?"

"Cass," Nick wrapped an arm around my middle, pulling me back against his solid chest. "She brought you out here to say goodbye."

Goodbye.

It sounded so final, and I was nowhere near ready to give up my mother, even if we'd spent more of my life apart than the together. I opened my mouth to protest, but nothing came out. I could yell at Kira for not bringing me to see her sooner when she was still lucid, I could rail at Division for doing this to her in the first place, I could yell at the big guy upstairs for making us like this in the first place. It wouldn't do any good. Nothing would. The mom I knew, the woman who held me at night and rocked me to sleep when I Saw scary things I couldn't possibly understand… she was gone and all that was left was the dried out husk of a person I only vaguely recognized.

Nick leaned close to my ear, his words gentle. "We'll give you a little bit of privacy, but I'll be right outside if you need me for anything." I nodded slowly, not trusting myself to speak for fear of opening the floodgates. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head before slipping out the French doors that revealed the view of the tree outside. I sat there in silence for long minutes, not sure what to say.

"That's a really nice view," I began, my voice sounding a little strange to my ears. Not that she got a whole lot of chances to see it, but on some level I liked to think she knew it was there.

"I should have Seen this coming, don't you think? I mean what kind of a Watcher am I that I couldn't find you this whole time." That nagged at me like a rock in my shoe. I'd known she was under Division control, but I'd never really tried to get her out from under their thumb. At first, when we'd gotten the serum from Division, I'd naively thought it was our ticket to get them to free her, but I'd underestimated my mom's importance to them. Our initial foray into negotiation had been met with a hit squad, and we'd never tried to bargain again.

Still, I should have tried again, shouldn't I have? Maybe when Kira joined and I knew how to open those channels of communication again? But I hadn't, I'd accepted her fate, too caught up in trying to keep myself out of Division clutches to even think about busting her free. Did that make me a bad daughter? More than anything, I wished I could reach her to hear her tell me it was okay. "I'm sorry," slipped out finally, at the end of my mental meanderings. "I know I should have tried harder to get you out. I know that. I shouldn't have let this happen to you. But you should have Seen it too, why didn't you warn me?" Just as fast, my self loathing turned to anger.

"You set all these plans in motion, before I was even born. If you knew you were going to end up like this, why didn't you do anything to stop it?" My question hung in the air with nothing but the soft hum of machinery for company. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to blame you," I squeezed her hand again. "What could you do? I was so small when they took you away. Even if you'd written it all down…" I shook my head. There was no way she could have prepared me for any of it.

"I don't want you to worry about me though, okay? Whatever happens I'm gonna be just fine," I sniffed, looking past the French doors where Nick sat on a wooden bench with Kira. "I have Nick; I mean I really have him. He loves me, can you believe it? After all this time…" my lips curved into the beginnings of a smile as I looked closer at one of the drawings. "But I guess maybe you already knew that. Maybe you always knew." I recognized the setting, but not the scene. That meant it hadn't happened yet. "This is the future you see for me, huh? You know, a month ago I would have argued with you, but now… I can't complain about a single thing with this picture."

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

"That was a good thing you did," Nick's gaze traveled out over the ocean, the peaceful surroundings working their magic to erode the worry over Cassie's pain. His own father's death had been so abrupt, no time for goodbyes, and he was glad they had this opportunity for her to find some closure and hopefully, move on to the next phase of her life.

"I hope she's not too mad at you for lying to her."

Nick let out a slow breath, that could go one way or the other, but he thought he was in the clear. "Nah, I think she gets what we were up to. Cassie's a lot smarter than you give her credit for."

"Cassie's a lot more of everything than I gave her credit for," Kira replied, and Nick shot her a sharp look, but he couldn't guess what she was thinking as she looked out over the horizon. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before she spoke again. "I'm going to help you escape."

You could have knocked him over with a feather at that. "What happened to working for Division as a freelance agent? Not that I'm trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, or was in any way up for doing anything for Division, but how are you going to manage that?"

"Division already knows something went down wrong at the airport, I'll tell them you were killed in the crossfire. I never told them Cassie started getting visions again, so they don't care what happens to her. They'll be so interested in the intel on Jethro and his people they won't have time to spare any lingering thoughts over your death."

"What about the people here? They'll know we came to see Cassie's mom." Kira gave him a look, and he realized that was a stupid thing to say. Of course Kira could make them believe any scenario she came up with. "They'll want a body."

"I'll take care of it."

It bothered him how easily she said that, but Nick couldn't let her risk it when all it would give them was a short term fix. "It's no good. They thought I was dead before, it didn't stop them from coming after me the first time I popped up in some Watcher's vision."

"So what then, Nick? Division isn't going to let things go. If you won't take the protection I have to offer by joining my team, you'll be fair game."

"It's not your problem. I can take care of myself and Cassie too. All you need to come up with is a convincing story as to how we escaped, we'll handle the rest. I appreciate the gesture though."

"Alright, if you're sure," she shook her head, her smile telling him that she thought he was crazy to pass up her help. Maybe he was, but he didn't want to be beholden to her or anyone else in the future. Except maybe Cassie; that was a whole different situation.

"I am, don't worry about us."

"Believe it or not, Nick, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy."

A little startled to glance over and find her looking at him intently, Nick offered her an uneasy smile. "I believe it," he lied convincingly. He just wasn't sure his idea of happy lined up exactly with her version of what made him happy. Another reason not to put too many eggs in her basket. The sooner he and Cassie were back on their own, the better. Speaking of which, a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision showed Cassie walking in their direction, her cheeks pale from crying, but she looked fairly composed.

Up from the bench in an instant, he met her halfway from the building to the tree. "Hey, how'd it go? Are you alright?" he searched her face carefully, relieved when he saw her keeping it together.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she replied, and he thought she looked drained more than anything else.

"Listen, about your mother. I know I should have told you when I first found out before…"

"No, I know. I get it," she cut him off. "Just… no more secrets, okay? Can you promise me that?"

"Yeah, I can do that," he nodded, more relieved than he could say that she wasn't holding a grudge when she had every right to. "So, do you want to get out of here, or do you want to spend some more time with your mom?" They'd have to leave before too long, but he was willing to risk it if she needed more time.

"No, I've said everything I wanted to say, we can leave soon. First I need to talk to Kira for a minute."

"To Kira?" his brows climbed in surprise. "She's right over there," he took a step in that direction, stunned when her slim hand kept him from going any further.

"Alone."

"What happened to no secrets?"

"I never said I wouldn't have my own secrets from time to time," she shot him a lopsided grin. Besides, you deserve it for keeping me in the dark about my mom," she poked him in the chest. "Why don't you go sit with my mom for a bit so she's not alone, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." But not before he pulled her close for a long hug, relishing the moment when he felt her relax against him. _How he lived for those moments…_

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

I waited until I was sure Nick was completely out of earshot before I went to sit by Kira, quashing the fleeting desire to put the Push-proof goggles on; best not to start off with a position of distrust.

"Thank you, for bringing me here," I said at length. I couldn't blame her for Division's decision to hold my mother or dope her to the point of death. Well I could, but I recognized the fact that it wouldn't be all that healthy.

"You did what I asked the last time we saw each other, I was just repaying the favor."

Not that it had cost me all that much since what she'd asked me to do was save Nick's life; I would have done that anyway. But maybe she needed there to be that quid pro quo between us? Maybe it was the only way she could justify doing something nice in her mind. "I guess we're really even now that I helped save your life then," I replied, my grin widening when I saw her wrestle with the fact that the scales were tipped in the other direction now.

Kira and I would never be friends. But I think we were coming to understand each other a little better. That, more than anything, made me speak up over what I'd Seen while in with my mother. "What you're thinking of doing is dangerous."

"What are you talking about?"

"I Saw it. I saw what you're going to do, which means you've already made the decision to do it. Are you sure you can stand up to her?"

The breath whistled between her teeth as Kira drew in a sharp breath. For a moment I thought she might try to deny it, or keep pleading ignorance, but instead I saw acceptance in her eyes. "Standing up to her isn't the issue; it's getting everyone under her to think the idea came from her in the first place, especially since she's already given orders to the contrary."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" The look she gave me spoke volumes on her confidence level. "Sorry, I forgot you can do anything," I smirked.

"The trick is to stay as close to the truth as possible. That way no one even notices the Push."

"What happens if she figures it out though?"

"Then that will be an interesting day," her lips curved into a smile that chilled my blood.

"Why are you taking this risk for us? Or… it's not really for _us_, is it? It's for Nick."

Kira was silent for a long moment before she answered. "Nick could never work for Division, I see that now."

"You still have a thing for him, don't you?" That's why she'd said all those things to me back at the safehouse, but I wanted to hear it from her.

Her smile grew softer then, almost vulnerable. "A girl never forgets her first love."

"Tell me about it," the corner of my mouth lifted in an answering smile. It was strange to think I almost felt a little sorry for her then. Her chance at that love was already buried in the past, while mine was just blossoming. I thought of my mom's sketch tucked away in my bag, the possibilities of the future stretching before us.

"Take care of him, okay?"

"Absolutely, I will," I promised without hesitation. "You'll take care of my mom?" I knew I didn't have the right to ask it, but I still had to try. To my surprise, she nodded right back.

"I'll see that her final days are peaceful." There didn't seem to be much to say after that, and I was surprised when she opened up another can of worms. "Cassie, about when we left you with the foster home…"

Good God, she wanted to get into that now? It was as if she'd finally grown a conscience about all the crappy things she'd done to me at once, but I didn't want to sit and rehash the past, not when we'd finally achieved some measure of peace. "You're not gonna get all girly on me now, are you?" I cut her off before she got too far. "We didn't get along, I get it. No hard feelings anymore."

"Really?"

"Cross my heart." I drew an x with two fingers over my chest, a little surprised to find I really meant it. I didn't need to hold onto any bad feelings, I had everything I ever wanted waiting for me in the building nearby.

"Okay then," she nodded, and I was glad she didn't go in for a hug, because there's only so much reconciliation I can take. Kira and I would never be bosom buddies. "I just saw Nick peep his head out the door for like the fifth time. He must be going crazy wondering what we're talking about," she grinned conspiratorially.

"Serves him right for keeping me in the dark about my mom," I grinned back. "So, what happens now?

"You and Nick leave, and if everything goes according to plan, you never have to see me again."

Oddly enough, I started to think it might not be the end of the world if we did see her from time to time, but I kept my mouth shut before such crazy thoughts escaped. "Thanks again, Kira. Even if it doesn't work for long, you're giving us a great head start."

"It'll work, I can take the heat. But if you ever hurt Nick…"

"I happen to have it from a reliable source that our odds are good," I couldn't help but smile at the image of the sketch.

"You'd better get going. I have some work to do to erase any sign of your visit."

"If it helps I can deck you, you know, to sell the story." I was just trying to be helpful…

"It was nice seeing you again, Cassie."

**A/N: Oh you guys, I could write Nick and Cassie 'til the cows come home! There are no end to ideas in this universe! But, I've got to wrap this up before too long so I can get started on my next book. Maybe I'll come back and do a sequel at some point, but we won't likely see too much of Jethro and his crew for the rest of this fic. **

**Feedback is love.**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter, it's good to have some closure for them in different ways. Things get a little romantic in this one (finally!), but I tried to keep it within the rating. **

_It was as if she'd finally grown a conscience about all the crappy things she'd done to me at once, but I didn't want to sit and rehash the past, not when we'd finally achieved some measure of peace. "You're not gonna get all girly on me now, are you?" I cut her off before she got too far. "We didn't get along, I get it. No hard feelings anymore."_

"_Really?"_

"_Cross my heart." I drew an x with two fingers over my chest, a little surprised to find I really meant it. I didn't need to hold onto any bad feelings, I had everything I ever wanted waiting for me in the building nearby. _

"_Okay then," she nodded, and I was glad she didn't go in for a hug, because there's only so much reconciliation I can take. Kira and I would never be bosom buddies. "I just saw Nick peep his head out the door for like the fifth time. He must be going crazy wondering what we're talking about," she grinned conspiratorially. _

"_Serves him right for keeping me in the dark about my mom," I grinned back. "So, what happens now? _

"_You and Nick leave, and if everything goes according to plan, you never have to see me again."_

_Oddly enough, I started to think it might not be the end of the world if we did see her from time to time, but I kept my mouth shut before such crazy thoughts escaped. "Thanks again, Kira. Even if it doesn't work for long, you're giving us a great head start."_

"_It'll work, I can take the heat. But if you ever hurt Nick…"_

"_I happen to have it from a reliable source that our odds are good," I couldn't help but smile at the image of the sketch. _

"_You'd better get going. I have some work to do to erase any sign of your visit."_

"_If it helps I can deck you, you know, to sell the story." I was just trying to be helpful…_

"_It was nice seeing you again, Cassie." _

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

It gave Nick a warm fuzzy feeling to trade the Hummer for an old beat up VW bus worth less than a quarter of what the yellow monster would pull in on the open market. Personally, I would have gone for a ride with a little more style or at least a working air conditioner, but Nick said it reminded him of a car his dad had when he was little, and who was I to deny him that walk down memory lane after just experiencing a stroll myself?

We spent the next six hours driving straight south to Mexico before we stopped for the night in a little town that I couldn't begin to pronounce. Thankfully, Nick always had a gift for languages, and he soon had us settled in a room with our own bathroom, which was all I could ask for. It looked like the whole town was getting ready for a shindig, stringing up cheap paper lanterns and paper mache figures. A band was setting up on a low stage with guitars, trumpets, a giant xylophone thing, and a lot of drums.

Having a little bit of downtime, I washed out our clothes in the sink and they hung to dry, strewn across every available surface area in the small room. The tantalizing smell of cooking food kept wafting in through our open window, making my mouth water as I waited for Nick to get back from his shopping trip. Finally I decided to take a shower, using up the last of the lemon scented bath and body gel I'd snatched off of a maid's cart in a busy four-star hotel, about a month before. While the water didn't get to what I call hot, it was warm enough not to be uncomfortable, and just being clean again after the long day felt wonderful.

The light had started to fade outside, and Nick still hadn't come back yet. I stepped out of the bathroom with a threadbare towel wrapped around my body, prepared to go out to find him wearing nothing else if need be, before I spotted a parcel wrapped in brightly colored paper lying on the bed with a note on top.

_Get dressed and meet me downstairs_

_Love, Nick_

Why he hadn't waited for me, I had no idea, but I tore into the package, delighted to find a clean set of clothing inside. The white peasant style blouse was embroidered with tiny pink flowers around the neckline. The matching skirt made of layer upon layer of brightly colored fabric fell all the way to my calves. The full skirt swirled when I turned in a riot of colors, and I spent a few minutes admiring the effect while my hair dried in the evening breeze. There was even a pair of woven leather sandals at the bottom, so I wouldn't have to wear my hightops with the pretty outfit.

The fiesta was already in full swing by the time I made my way downstairs, the music lending a bounce to my step as I set out in search of Nick. I didn't have far to go, he must have been watching the doors, 'cause all of a sudden he was there, looking better than any man had a right to; his face unreadable as he stared.

"You look…"

Smiling at his loss for words, I took that as a good sign. "You like it?" I twirled, feeling impossibly girly and oddly enough, not hating it, when he looked at me like that. "I love the colors. Thanks, Nick."

"You look amazing," he found his voice, holding up an exotic flower in a deep pink. Our fingers brushed as I took it, and we stared at each other as I brought the bloom to my nose. Something had definitely changed between us. Maybe it was because we were finally on our own again after those shouted declarations of love, and it was just starting to sink in.

There was nothing to keep us apart.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, snapping out of it and I smiled in relief, glad to have the topic of food as a distraction.

"I'm starved," I admitted, tucking the flower behind my ear as he wrapped an arm around my waist, leading me to the feast. No one batted an eye or asked for money as we stepped up to the buffet line, though there was a tip jar at the end of the table for the band and Nick dropped in some cash. We were universally met with smiles and nods, and I took most of what was said as complimentary, even if I didn't understand it. It almost reminded me of China, the way the entire community would come together for a holiday, and everyone was welcome.

After loading up our plates, we took a seat at the edge of the festivities, knees touching under the trestle table. It wasn't the metropolis I longed for, but neither was it a sleepy little town, at least for that night, and that held its own appeal. "You know," I commented, pushing away my empty plate as we lingered over the local version of a margarita, "I miss the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, but I have to admit, the food is pretty great here."

"I don't miss the smell of fish, that's for sure," Nick grinned, taking in a deep breath.

As I relaxed, watching the townspeople enjoying their party, kids running wild through the streets without a care in the world, I realized… we'd finally gotten to _someday_. No one chasing after us for the serum, no need to dodge the local authorities; we could settle there in the town, or move on as we pleased. We could go anywhere in the world we wanted to. The future stretched bright before us, full of possibilities.

And then another thought crossed my mind. "New clothes, dinner, music, flowers… Is this our date, Nick?"

He blinked, a little startled, but didn't seem averse to the idea. "Ah… yeah. I guess it is," his smile grew wider. "In which case," he rose and offered his hand, "let's go hit the dance floor."

It wasn't quite the club scene I was used to, and I had no idea how to dance any of the native steps, but the crowd's energy was contagious as we slipped into their midst. Mimicking the couples around us, Nick and I danced up a storm, not caring if we got it right or wrong, our bodies meshed well together with our own rhythm. I've never laughed so hard in my life, near giddy with happiness as he twirled me around the hard packed earth, only to pull me close time and again.

The music changed, and half the dancers went in search of cooling drinks. The rest of us pressed close as the music slowed, and I rested my head against Nick's chest, my body molding to his as the thump of his heart reverberated through me.

Something changed between us, the laughter fading as he held me close. This time, when he swung me out, instead of flinging wildly with abandon, my movements were slow and sensual, keeping to the hypnotic beat of the music. This time it was Nick who closed the distance between us, eager to get me back into his arms. His hands splayed across my back, holding me close, so that we moved as one.

Pressing a soft, open mouthed kiss to the small expanse of skin visible above his shirt, my breath quickened as I felt him groan in response. I pulled back to see him looking down at me with something akin to hunger, and a rush of warmth pooled low in my belly. It wasn't just a dance anymore; there was no denying that we both wanted so much more.

Half expecting him to object, I opened my mouth to ask him if he wanted to go back to the room, but his lips descended over mine, chasing away any lingering doubts I might have had as to his thoughts. "Time to go," his voice hoarse with need by my ear, he caught my hand and all but dragged me off the dance floor.

* * *

><p>~Nick~<p>

Nick and Cassie barely made it up the steps before they couldn't keep their hands off each other any longer. Staggering down the hallway, they were both too busy kissing to pay particular mind where they stumbled.

When had she become this siren? Able to reduce him to a drooling fool with a twitch of her hips? Pressing her up against the door the moment they slipped inside, Nick groaned when she immediately reached for him. "Cassie, wait…"

"Don't be such a girl, Nick," her breath chased over his moist skin where her hot little mouth branded him with kisses. "We both want this."

"We agreed to wait, remember?" Was he convincing her or himself? Nick was _so_ close to caving, but then her shoulders slumped, and Cassie gave in.

"Alright fine, we're waiting," she pouted, and he resisted the urge to catch that succulent lower lip with his teeth. "No sex, but that doesn't mean we have to stop completely, does it?" Her winsome smile was his undoing as she nimbly unbuttoned his shirt, pushing him back towards the small bed that beckoned like the finest bower.

He knew it was a bad idea, but Nick assuaged his guilt with the idea that he wasn't completely giving in to her. Just a little taste, they didn't have to take things too far. Allowing her to tumble him onto the bed, Nick resolutely kept his hands to himself as she scooted beside him, her body immediately molding to his. He would be strong, he would… all rational thought slipped away as he felt her slender hands on his fevered flesh.

_Jesus Christ… what was he doing?_ Someone had to be the voice of reason, and for damned sure it wouldn't be Cassie. "I'm going to take a shower," he declared, carefully disengaging himself from her entwined limbs.

"Nick…" Cassie's head fell back against the pillow in frustration. "Don't be such a baby. Come back here, I won't bite."

"Yeah, but I might," he muttered darkly. If he so much as looked back to see her hair all strewn across the bed he knew he'd cave in. Instead he sat up, running his fingers through his hair as he took a steadying breath.

"Let me help you," she offered, leaning up to press against his back, and Nick closed his eyes until the wave of longing passed.

"Help me?"

"Yeah, let me help you take the edge off. We can wait on the actual sex, but if you let me…" her hand slid around his waist, fingers questing south, and Nick caught hold of her wrist before she got too far.

"I think I'll make it a cold one."

"Fine, I'll be good," she retreated, falling back against the bed with a sigh. "Just come to bed, you don't have to go take a cold shower to escape me."

Nick sat there for long seconds, debating whether he had the strength to return to the bed or if he really should take the shower to clear his head and build up his resolve again. In the end, he couldn't decide if it was weakness or strength that led him to curl up beside her, nose buried in her fragrant hair. Cassie settled into his arms, giving up the Lolita act, the tequila making them both mellow.

Only Nick couldn't sleep.

Long after he felt her heart fall into a slow, steady rhythm, he wrestled with whether or not it was fair to either of them to keep playing the waiting game. Every little innocent shift in her sleep sent a corresponding thrill through him, and Nick started to feel like a dirty old man for having thoughts of waking her up with kisses when she needed her rest. Finally, he carefully left the bed, going to his old standby, the shower, to seek a little private relief.

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

It was still dark out when I woke to find myself alone in bed, the sound of running water telling me where Nick had disappeared to. Nick and his showers… I could guess what he was doing in there, and just thinking of him under the water was enough to keep me from falling right back asleep again. It was so tempting to sneak in and join him; I knew that if I pushed him far enough he'd snap and give in to what we both wanted. But even though I was ready for the next step, I wanted him to be too, no matter how crazy that sounded with him being the older one.

I had almost talked myself into rolling over and going back to sleep, when the faintest moan floated out to me and my body froze, all tingly with anticipation of hearing him again. Holding my breath, my ears strained, and I was rewarded with the sound of his harsh breath, loud in the still room, even with the water running. Catching a quick breath, my thighs pressed together to try and quiet the ache that grew between them, but that only seemed to make it worse.

Knowing it was a bad idea, I focused my power, attempting to See Nick in the shower; just a little jog ahead into the immediate future. I know that makes me kind of a peeping Tom, but I couldn't help it. I caught just a flash, an image of slick skin and a buck of the hips, but it was enough to send my senses into overdrive. My hand slipped under the covers to stroke down below, after all, why should he be the only one with some relief? Already slick and ready for him, it didn't take long to have me gasping in the darkness, picturing him doing the same in the shower. Another guttural groan from him was all it took to send me over the edge, biting my lip against the pillow to keep from crying out as I rocked myself into release.

I was still tingling when he finally emerged in a cloud of steam, my breath quickening at the sight of him in just his boxer briefs. Playing possum, I closed my eyes, waiting until he lay beside me to speak. "Did you have a good shower?" I almost didn't recognize the throaty quality of my voice.

"Goodnight, Cassie," he answered shortly, refusing to turn towards me.

For long moments we lay there in the darkness, neither of us sleeping. We edged a little closer to morning, and I could see the muscled planes of his back more clearly in the growing light. Tracing the path of a droplet of water across his back with one finger, I felt Nick tense up beneath my touch, and he rolled over to face me. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, I was already awake," I lied. Besides, it wasn't anything he'd done to wake me up specifically.

"Oh," he fell silent again. His arm stretched out, and I felt his fingers sift through my hair in the lightest of touches. "Couldn't sleep?"

_Not with what was going on in the shower without me..._ "I sleep better when you're here beside me."

"Then why aren't you asleep now?"

I willed him to know why, to understand how much I loved him and wanted to be with him. To give up the stupid objection over a random date of birth and let me love him the way I needed to.

I don't know who started kissing who first.

But all of a sudden, there wasn't any space between us anymore. It wasn't the same, frenzied kisses like how we'd come together in the hallway outside our room, this was slow and deep, as if we had all the time in the world. Half prepared for Nick to pull away from me at any moment; it was with a joyful sigh that I felt his hands skim over my bare skin, pushing away the fabric with slow, deliberate care. I let him take the lead, even though it went against my nature to remain passive, I understood that I needed to let him set the pace.

Then there was nothing between us but the slightest cushion of air, and I felt him hesitate, looking deep into my eyes for… uncertainty? Regret? I knew my gaze reflected the love I felt for him, but I wanted to make sure he absolutely understood. "I love you, Nick. I always have. If you and I die tomorrow, or get into a screaming match over something stupid; I will always love you. Nothing will ever change that," I pledged solemnly.

Nick nodded, the corner of his mouth tugging up into a faint smile. "That's all I wanted to hear." The hesitation gone, we came together; years of pent up longing and frustration lending an urgency to our movements. There would be time later to take things slower, lots of times to explore every hidden secret and curve of each other's bodies, but in that instant, I know I felt the urge to brand him as my own before anything else interrupted. That same need fueled Nick's kisses as he rolled me onto my back, and my thighs parted to accept him. Whatever consequences there were, it was too late to go back now.

We both froze with a shared sigh of pleasure as he took me in one swift movement, our bodies locked together for long seconds while we enjoyed that simple delight. And then he began to move and there was so much more.

I always knew it would be better to share the experience with someone I loved, but nothing prepared me for what it was like that first time with Nick. I forgot to arch my back like I'd seen in a movie and thought looked sexy. I forgot to make little sounds of encouragement to make him think he was doing well. I forgot to play all those games designed to make my partner think I was good at what we were doing.

I forgot _everything_, but the feel of his body against mine as we moved together. Crazily, I thought it would take me longer to get there since I'd already helped myself to relief while he was in the shower, but my paltry touch was nothing compared to the sensations he wrung from my body. All too soon, I felt the edge of my release dancing just out of reach, and I almost wished it would go away; I wanted it to go on forever. But it hit me with surprising force, robbing the breath from my body as I trembled beneath him, his name on my lips as I came apart in his arms in a shimmer of ecstasy. Dimly I was aware of his shuddering release above me, and then Nick collapsed against me, his welcome weight stilling the last of my tremors.

After a few minutes, Nick seemed to realize he might be crushing me, though honestly I didn't mind at all, and he rolled onto his side. "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" I replied, somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. "I'm better than okay. That was… that was wow."

"It was kind of wow, wasn't it," a smug smile tilted his lips as he fell back against the lumpy mattress, and I rolled to snuggle up against his side. "Tell me again why we didn't do this a long time ago?"

"'Cause you're an idiot?" I poked him in the stomach, laughing when I felt his muscles leap and he Moved my fingers away from his sensitive side. "Hey, no cheating," I tried to push through the invisible barrier, relaxing when he let me touch him again.

"No tickling then, you know I'll win that kind of fight." I felt the ghost of a touch against my side with his power, and my hands instantly stilled.

"Okay, okay, I give," I sighed, resting my head against his chest. "You know, I have to say, best… date… ever."

"You're not wrong there," Nick lazily stroked my arm. "Was that another tattoo I saw down by your hip?"

"Maybe," I teased. "Next time you'll have to go a little slower so you can check it out."

"Slower…" he repeated, and I could practically hear the frown in his voice. "But it was still long enough for you to…"

"Duh," I cut him off. "Couldn't you tell?"

"Well, I thought so but I was a little distracted… When did you get the lotus tattoo?" he changed the subject, fingers brushing over the little flower on the back of my shoulder.

"Not too long after I Saw yours," I admitted, relaxing under his touch. "What made you pick the lotus design?"

"It reminded me of you," he pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

"Kira must have _loved_ that," I couldn't help but snicker.

"It's not like I told her I was getting it because it reminded me of you," he nudged my side. "Any other tattoos I should be looking for?" Suddenly playful, he rolled me back against the bed, bending to kiss the flare of my hip.

"No, no more tattoos," I replied, trying to resist the urge to reach for a sheet. Not that I was all that modest of a person, but this was the first time he'd really had a chance to get a good look at me. Besides the two tattoos, I didn't have too many weird things going on with my body. No strange piercings except for the barbell on my right eyebrow, the hoops in my ears and the requisite belly ring. Sometimes I thought about letting that heal over, every time I looked at it, it reminded me of Brittany Spears and I wanted to cringe. "What do you think, too skinny? Probably because I didn't eat my peas and carrots growing up," I quipped, not wanting to let on how much his approval meant to me.

"You could stand to eat a taco or two, but I think you're perfect just the way you are," Nick nipped at my belly with his teeth and I squealed, dissolving into giggles as he kept up the tender assault. The playful grappling led to another round of lovin' and Nick took my critique to heart, taking his own sweet time.

The sun was high in the sky as we collapsed against the sheets again, both exhausted, but well sated. "You know I'm never gonna let you go now," Nick murmured, already starting to drift as he wrapped an arm around me.

"That was my master plan," I smiled against his neck. It only took me how many years to get there? I have to say, it was worth every moment of waiting…

**A/N: I hope the lovin' for Nick and Cassie was worth the wait. We're almost to the end of this one, just a little more drama before I write them off into the sunset. **

**Feedback is love.**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: I don't own any canon characters from Push, or the world they live in, only my take on what their lives might be like given a few years from the movie's end.**

**Okay, so I wrote out what I had planned next for our pair and in the end, I just didn't like putting them through the wringer any more (which is weird, cause I love angst!). So, even though it was pretty interesting, I completely threw it out and this last chapter has evolved more into an epilogue than another plot twist. But it gives us a little bit of closure on some of those future hints I dropped from Cassie's mom.**

**You know I went back and forth on who's POV to tell this final chapter from and in the end I decided to go back to Cassie. I started this by telling her story, and in the end, I thought she was the right choice to finish it. **

_When did you get the lotus tattoo?" he changed the subject, fingers brushing over the little flower on the back of my shoulder._

"_Not too long after I Saw yours," I admitted, relaxing under his touch. "What made you pick the lotus design?"_

"_It reminded me of you," he pressed a kiss to the top of my head._

"_Kira must have loved that," I couldn't help but snicker. _

"_It's not like I told her I was getting it because it reminded me of you," he nudged my side. "Any other tattoos I should be looking for?" Suddenly playful, he rolled me back against the bed, bending to kiss the flare of my hip. _

"_No, no more tattoos," I replied, trying to resist the urge to reach for a sheet. Not that I was all that modest of a person, but this was the first time he'd really had a chance to get a good look at me. Besides the two tattoos, I didn't have too many weird things going on with my body. No strange piercings except for the barbell on my right eyebrow, the hoops in my ears and the requisite belly ring. Sometimes I thought about letting that heal over, every time I looked at it, it reminded me of Brittany Spears and I wanted to cringe. "What do you think, too skinny? Probably because I didn't eat my peas and carrots growing up," I quipped, not wanting to let on how much his approval meant to me._

"_You could stand to eat a taco or two, but I think you're perfect just the way you are," Nick nipped at my belly with his teeth and I squealed, dissolving into giggles as he kept up the tender assault. The playful grappling led to another round of lovin' and Nick took my critique to heart, taking his own sweet time. _

_The sun was high in the sky as we collapsed against the sheets again, both exhausted, but well sated. "You know I'm never gonna let you go now," Nick murmured, already starting to drift as he wrapped an arm around me._

"_That was my master plan," I smiled against his neck. It only took me how many years to get there? I have to say, it was worth every moment of waiting…_

* * *

><p>~Cassie~<p>

The next two weeks were pure bliss; lazy days with no real need to venture out except for the occasional meal. I understood that the owners of the motel thought we were newlyweds, and I guess they weren't too far off in that assumption.

I kept my mother's sketch tucked away in my bag, a reminder of the future to come without showing it to Nick. It felt more like a secret I shared with my mother that way. I did find one other drawing though buried among the stack of sketches that Nick caught me smiling over one day.

"What's that supposed to be? A monster eating a doll?" he teased at the childish scrawl.

"Hey, I was only six when I drew this one," I defended the stick drawing, unrecognizable as little more than two figures, one with long, yellow hair. "I wonder why my mom kept this one in particular?"

"Not because she was a lover of art," he muttered, taking a last glance before he bent to put on his shoes.

All at once I remembered the vision that inspired the drawing in a flash. It was Nick! Nick tossing me up into the air playfully as a little girl… "It was you!" I gasped, not understanding how that was even possible. "I Saw you, playing with me as a little girl, that's what I drew here."

"What? That's not me," he frowned, snatching the paper for a closer look. "Clearly I don't have sixteen fingers, and both of my eyes are the same size."

"No, I'm serious, I remember! I remember Seeing you in that vision."

"So, I was what… a teenager tossing you up in the air like that? Trust me, if we'd met before, I would have remembered it."

"No, you weren't a teen," I frowned to myself, concentrating on the image. "You were more like you are now, maybe a little older, which is impossible." _Unless…_

"I dunno, Cass. I think you're wrong on this one. You were just a little girl. Maybe you did get a vision of me in the future and somehow mixed it up into a dream or something?" he handed the paper back and I stared at the image, finally understanding what I'd Seen. It wasn't me in the vision at all. It was a different little girl. A little girl with long, blonde hair and laughing eyes. Brown ones, like Nick's.

"Yeah, I guess I got things mixed up," I murmured, stunned by the idea that I'd possibly seen my own daughter when I was six years old.

Our daughter.

Only the future didn't always happen as I Saw it. Things changed, decisions were made and what seemed set in stone disappeared and a new reality took form. It was the main reason why I didn't try to actively see what the future held in store for me more often. There was no sense in getting all worked up over something that might never happen. Were we still headed towards that future with everything that had happened over the years?

"Are you coming?"

"Huh?" I blinked up at him, realizing he'd asked me a question. "Give me a minute, okay? I'll meet you down at the market." Once Nick was gone, I tried to find that tenuous thread to our future. It was slow in coming, but finally I was struck by a vision in startling clarity. I Saw the three of us, hiking on a wooded trail. The little girl rode on Nick's shoulders, playing his head like a bongo drum while they sang '_this old man, he played one, he played knick knack on my thumb_'. I followed behind watching them in amusement, easily keeping up in my sturdy hiking boots. We were going to the lake…

Just as quickly it was gone, and I lurched back into reality with a gasp. We were a real family. I wondered where the lake was? Did we live near there? Never in a zillion years would I have pictured myself in such a setting, but we were happy; at least it felt happy in that tiny snippet of a possible reality. But now that I knew what our future might hold, should I tell Nick about it? Or would the both of us trying to work towards it, make it disappear?

"Hey, I thought you were coming down to meet me, what happened to you? Cassie?" Nick's voice broke me out of my reverie, and I realized I'd been sitting there for quite some time.

"Sorry, I guess I was distracted. I just had a vision."

Instantly assuming the worst, Nick dropped the canvas sack on the bed and grabbed for his duffel tucked away underneath. "How much time do we have?"

"No, not that kind of vision," I stopped him before he gave himself a heart attack. "It was something good."

"Something good?" That brought him up short. "Like win the lotto kind of good? Or ice cream with dinner kind of good?"

"Good like… future good."

"Ah the future, I've been doing a lot of thinking about that," Nick sat down beside me on the bed and I was almost afraid to ask what he'd come up with. Was he having second thoughts about our lives together?

"You have?"

"I have," he nodded, his shoulder nudging against mine. "I was thinking, maybe we should move on to Mexico City? I know how you hate it out here in these dinky little towns. How does that sound? All the smog you can breathe."

"You'd do that for me?" I blinked in surprise.

"Sure, why not? We can lose ourselves in the city just like always."

I knew how much he enjoyed the slower pace outside the city, affording its own kind of anonymity. My mother's drawing came to mind, it was as good a time as any to share it with him. "Actually, I was thinking we might head back towards the States."

Nick frowned at that. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea. After what happened in LA, I'm pretty sure there are still people looking for us."

"And you don't think they'll be able to find us down here if they're really looking? I thought Kira was supposed to be taking care of that. Besides, I have it under good authority that it's actually a good idea for us to go back."

"Is this about that crazy stick drawing you did when you were six?" Nick lifted a single brow with skepticism.

"Actually, it's not what I Saw; it's what my mom did." I held out the often folded picture my mom had drawn.

"This is us, at the Starlight Diner," he recognized the familiar place right away.

"I know."

"So what? We went there lots of times."

"Take a closer look," I nudged him, waiting for the little light to come on behind his eyes. Instead his brows drew together in confusion.

"You're wearing a waitress uniform; this never happened."

"_Yet._"

"Wait… we're supposed to go back to Texas? I thought you hated all that fresh air and wide open spaces?"

"You have to admit, it's the last place anyone would look for us," I pointed out.

"Are you sure you can be happy in a place like that?"

I loved him for making sure it was what I wanted, even though I'm the one who brought it up in the first place. "It's not the place; it's who I'm with. I don't care where we go, as long as we go together. And if we end up hating it, we can always move along. Do you like lakes?" I fished for information, thinking about my vision of the three of us hiking in the woods.

"Absolutely I do," his face split into a wide smile. "My Uncle had this place by a lake in Colorado, we went there a few times when I was little. Beautiful country out there, you'd hate it."

"I don't hate nature," I poked him in the ribs.

"Yeah right. The only way I could get you up hiking in the mountains is if we were being chased. Hey, that's not a bad idea… I could do the chasing," he waggled his brows at me playfully and I let him catch me without putting up an ounce of fight, falling back against the mattress beneath him.

"You never can tell what the future will bring."

Well… I can. And I have to tell you, it definitely doesn't suck.

**A/N: So there we go, they lived happily ever after! Well… to be honest, I can think of oodles of adventures they could get into between all the different factions out there and even after they "settle down" and have kids, that's just a next generation of escapades! I hope you enjoyed it, maybe someday I'll make my way back to these guys for a sequel. **

**Last chance… Feedback is love.**


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